Congress  of  tljt 


R.  H.  WEIGHTMAN, 

SENATOR  ELECT, 

STATE    OF   NEW    MEXICO. 


REQUESTING  THE  PASSAGE  OF  A  BILL  DECLARING  NEW  MEXICO 
ONE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA  ON 
CERTAIN  CONDITIONS. 


5    WASHINGTON: 

PRINTED    BY    GIDEON    AND    CO. 
1851. 


TO  THE 


Congress  of  tt)*  Unttefr  0taU0, 


BT 


E.  H.  WEIGHTMAN, 

SENATOR  ELECT, 

STATE    OF  NEW    MEXICO. 


REQUESTING  THE  PASSAGE  OF  A  BILL  DECLARING  NEW  MEXICO 
ONE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA  ON 
CERTAIN  CONDITIONS. 


<"  WASHINGTON: 

PRINTED    BY    GIDEON   AND    CO. 

1851. 


To  the  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress  assembled,  by  the 
undersigned,  Senator  elect  of  the  State  of  New  Mexico: 

By  message  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  constitution 
adopted  by  the  inhabitants  of  New  Mexico  was  transmitted  to  the 
Senate,  September  9th,  1850,  on  which  day  it  was  "read  and  ordered 
to  lie  on  the  table,"  and  on  the  following  day,  September  10th,  "order 
ed  to  be  printed."  September  12th,  a  communication  of  the  under 
signed,  and  the  accompanying  memorial  of  the  Legislature  of  New 
Mexico,  the  inaugural  address  and  first  message  of  Governor  Manuel 
Alvarez,  the  memorial  of  the  convention  which  framed  the  constitution, 
and  the  credentials  of  the  undersigned,  were  ordered  to  "lie  on  the 
table,"  and,  September  17th,  1850,  "ordered  to  be  printed." 

This  is  all  the  action  which  has  been  had  on  this  subject;  and  it  thus 
appears,  (hat  no  answer  has  as  yet  been  given  to  the  respectful  appeal 
of  a  large  and  important  community  to  be  admitted  into  the  Union  of 
the  States,  and  to  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  blessings  of  liberty. 

Arguments  having  been  presented,  in  Congress,  based  on  erroneous 
assumptions,  the  undersigned  will  first  address  himself  to  the  correc 
tion  of  such  errors  as  have  fallen  under  his  observation. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  the  people  of  New  Mexico  were  interfered 
with,  and  that  the  plan  of  bringing  New  Mexico  into  the  Union  as  a 
State  originated  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate. 

That  the  people  of  New  Mexico  were  regardless  of  Presidential  mes 
sages,  or  speeches  in  either  branch  of  Congress,  or  letters  from  distin 
guished  members  of  either  branch  of  Congress,  it  is  not  meant  to  assert. 
All  these  were  esteemed  good  sources  of  information.  And  that  one 
set  of  arguments  should  prevail,  and  another  be  rejected,  does  not,  it  is 
conceived,  establish  any  constitutional  objection  to  the  claim  of  New 
Mexico  to  representation  in  the  National  legislature.  To  make  valid 
the  objection  that  the  Executive  or  other  branch  of  government  inter 
fered  in  the  State  movement,  it  must  be  shewn  that  such  interference 
prevented  the  expression  of  the  popular  will,  and  that  the  same  is  not 
presented  in  the  constitution  now  before  Congress  for  its  consideration. 
Mere  interference,  if  proven,  makes  no  valid  objection. 

Accordingly,  in  the  speech  of  July  17th  >  1850,  of  a  distinguished  re 
presentative  of  Virginia,  (Mr.  Bayly,)  the  object  of  which  was  to  "esta 
blish"  that  the  admission  of  New  Mexico,  when  "consummated," 
"would  be  one  of  the  grossest  outrages,  and  most  flagrant  violations  of 
the  Constitution,  which  have  ever  been  perpetrated,"  the  charge  is  dis 
tinctly  made,  that  the  constitution  now  before  Congress,  was  made  in 
Washington  city,  sent  to  New  Mexico,  and  there  adopted  by  the  dicta 
tion  of  the  military  commander. 


2 

Here  is  the  charge  in  the  language  of  t£e  distinguished  gentleman 
himself — 

"  But  before  I  proceed  to  establish  this,  1  desire  to  say  a  word  or  two  in  relation  to  the 
course  which  the  party  in  power  has  pursued  with  respect  to  our  Territories.  I  shall  say 
no  more  of  it  in  California  than  is  necessary  to  illustrate  my  argument  concerning  New 
Mexico.  ********** 

"  They  (the  Executive,)  saw  no  other  escape  than  the  plan  they  proposed.  They  sup 
posed,  by  the  exercise  of  executive  patronage,  by  the  outcry  they  could  raise  about  the 
dereliction  of  duty  on  the  part  of  Congress  in  not  providing  governments  for  the  Terri 
tories,  and  the  necessity  for  them,  and,  above  all,  by  the  sympathy  of  the  north  elicited 
for  the  provision  excluding  slavery,  that  they  could  carry  their  scheme  through,  and  thus 
evade  the  issue  of  the  Wilmot  Proviso  It  was  well  understood  in  California,  and  an 
effort  was  made  to  resist  it;  but  the  administration  proved  too  strong. 

*********** 

"But,  sir,  as  flagitious  as  these  proceedings  have  been  in  respect  to  California,  they  are 
propriety  itself  in  comparison  with  what  has  been  done  and  proposed  in  respect  to  New 
Mexico.  Not  only  has  a  military  government  been  continued  there  without  authority  of 
law,  but  the  Executive  has  recommended  to  Congress  to  abstain  from  organizing  a  terri 
torial  government,  and  leave  the  country  under  military  rule  until  it  is  ready  to  apply  for 
admission  into  the  Union  as  a  State.  *  *  '  *  *  *  * 

"  If  these  military  governments  had  been  continued  as  governments  de  facto,  and  merely 
for  the  purpose  of  preserving  good  order,  and  under  instructions  not  to  interfere  with 
civil  affairs,  so  as  to  change  the  status  of  them,  I  should  have  been  the  last  to  complain. 
The  necessity  of  the  case  would  have  excused  it.  But  they  have  greatly  gone  beyond 
this.  Those  military  officers  have  actively  participated  in  civil  affairs,  and  exercised  sov 
ereign  functions.  They  have  undertaken  to  convene  conventions  of  the  people  to  frame 
constitutions,  to  district  the  territories,  and  to  fix  the  qualification  of  voters.  While  we, 
the  representatives  of  the  people,  are  engaged  upon  the  very  subject  of  the  government  of 
pur  Territories,  it  is  snatched  from  our  hands  by  an  officer  of  the  army,  acting  under  the 
instructions  of  the  Executive  !  The  gordian  knot,  which  we  are  exhausing  our  ingenuity 
to  untie,  is  suddenly  cut  by  the  sword  of  a  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  army !  In  the  better 
days  of  the  Republic,  what,  sir,  would  have  been  said  of  such  transactions  as  these. 
Under  such  auspices  a  constitution  has  been  formed  in  New  Mexico,  and  is  at  this  mo 
ment  in  this  city.  It  would  be  a  useless  consumption  of  time  to  undertake  to  describe  its 
character.  The  influences  which  stamped  the  character  of  the  constitution  of  California 
have  operated  in  New  Mexico;  and  we  are  told  that,  during  this  Congress,  New  Mexico 
is  to  be  admitted  as  a  State  into  this  Union.  Such  a  proceeding  is  so  violative  of  every 
principle  of  propriety,  and  of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  that  I  desire  to  expose 
it  at  once  in  all  of  its  deformity."  *  *  * 

"  After  quoting  from  a  speech  of  Mr.  Webster,  delivered  in  the  Senate  in  March,  1848, 
as  follows : 

"  AND  I  CAN  TELL   YOU,  SIR,  THAT  WHEN  WE  HAVE    MADE  IT  A    TERRITORY,  AND  WISH  TO 

MAKE  IT  A  STATE,  SUCH  A  CONSTITUTION  AS  THE  EXECUTIVE  POWER  OF  THIS  GOVERNMENT 
THINKS  FIT  TO  SEND  TO  THEM  WILL  BE  SENT  AND  ADOPTED.  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  OUR 
FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  NEW  MEXICO  WILL  BE  FRAMED  IN  THE  CITY  OF  WASHINGTON." 

Mr.  Bayly  proceeds : 

"  How  prophetic  these  remarks  !  How  precisely  has  the  result  fulfilled  the  prediction  ! 
Such  a  people  have  no  notion  of  free  government.  As  Mr.  Webster  predicted,  their  con 
stitution  has  been  framed  in  the  city  of  Washington;  and  they  have  adopted  just  such  a 
constitution  as  the  Executive  saw  fit  to  send  them. 

"  New  Mexico  will  not  be  in  a  condition  to  come  into  this  Union  in  twenty  years,  if  she 
ever  will  be." 

To  the  charge  here  presented  I  join  issue.  I  deny  in  whole  and  in 
detail.  In  regard  to  so  much  of  (he  charge  as  asserts  that  the  constitu 
tion  of  New  Mexico  now  before  Congress,  or  that  any  constitution  for 
New  Mexico,  was  made  in  Washington  cily,  it  is  respectfully  suggested 
to  the  distinguished  representative  of  Virginia,  that  a  call  on  the  Execu 
tive  to  furnish  the  document  would  put  the  point  at  rest  forever.  I 
demand  of  him  the  proofs;  upon  him  is  the  onus  probandij  and  until 


Mr.  Bayly  shall  produce  some  testimony  more  satisfactory  than  what 
he  is  pleased  to  call  a  prophecy  of  any  gentleman,  however  distinguish 
ed  and  honored,  coupled  with  his  own  exclamation,  "How  prophetic 
these  remarks!"  I  solemnly  protest  against  any  importance  being  at 
tached  to  his  charge,  particularly  when  that  charge  is  in  direct  contra 
diction  of  the  message  of  the  illustrious  and  lamented  Taylor,  of  Jan'y 
21,  1850,  in  answer  to  an  elaborate  call,  by  a  branch  of  Congress,  for 
information  on  this  very  subject  of  executive  interference  in  the  political 
affairs  of  California  and  New  Mexico. 

Without  waiting,  however,  for  proofs  which  Mr.  Bayly  will  be  unable 
to  produce.  I  proceed  to  give  a  short  history  of  the  origin,  progress,  and 
consummation  of  the  State  movement  in  New  Mexico. 

With  the  first  number  of  the  "New  Mexican,"  issued  November 
28th,  1849,  began  the  public  discussion  of  the  advantages  of  a  State 
government.  Through  the  columns  of  the  same  paper,  December  8th, 
1849,  sixteen  civilians — some  of  Mexican,  and  others  of  American 
blood;  some  whigs,  and  others  democrats;  some  southern,  and  others 
northern  born — issued  an  "Address  to  the  people  of  New  Mexico," 
urging  the  formation  of  a  State  government.  In  this  address  it  was 
argued  that  a  State  government  was  best  per  s*>.-,  that,  as  a  State,  we 
could  best  resist  the  encroachments  of  Texas;  and  that  a  territorial  gov 
ernment,  appearing  impossible  of  attainment,  a  State  government  must 
be  sought  to  rid  ourselves  of  the  anti-republican  and  badly  administered 
military  despotism,  under  wh'ich  we  suffered. 

In  the  fourth  number  of  the  "  New  Mexican"  appeared  the  counter- 
address,  contesting  all  these  positions,  urging  that  a  State  government 
was  more  expensive  than  a  Territorial  one,  and  the  taxation  necessary 
to  support  it  greater  than  the  people  could  bear;  that  the  compact  with 
Texas,  and  the  treaty  stipulations  with  Mexico,  and  the  right  of  appeal 
to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  amply  protected  us  against 
Texan  encroachments,  and  that  a  territorial  government  could  be  ob 
tained.  The  State  movement  was  denounced  as  a  factious  movement, 
and  the  signers  of  the  first  address  denominated  the  Alvarez  faction.  To 
this  counter-address  were  appended  the  names  of  sixty-two  persons, 
among  which  were  those  of  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  prominent  office 
holders  under  the  militaiy  government.  The  secretary  of  the  Terri 
tory,  the  judges  of  the  circuit  courts,  the  prefectos,  the  alcaldes,  the 
sheriffs,  clerks  of  courts,  the  governor's  interpreter,  &c.;  all  of  whom 
held  their  offices  at  the  absolute  will  and  pleasure  of  the  military  com 
mander.  Besides  the  names  of  these  were  appended  those  of  the  sut 
lers  for  the  troops,  and  employees  of  the  quartermaster,  and  contractors 
with  Government  for  the  supply  of  beef,  mules,  flour,  &c. 

Into  the  discussion  was  brought  Executive  messages,  Congressional 
speeches,  editorials  of  leading  newspapers,  letters  of  distinguished  mem 
bers  of  either  branch  of  Congress,  or  from  private  sources.  Information 
from  every  quarter  was  sought  for  and  discussed — nothing  was  discarded 
as  unworthy  of  examination.  By  the  advocates  of  a  Territorial  govern 
ment  a  letter  of  Senator  Foote,  to  a  private  individual,  was  much  relied 


on.  Senator  Foote,  in  his  letter,  advised  a  territorial  government,  and 
silence  on  the  slavery  question  as  the  most  easy  mode  to  obtain  a  gov 
ernment;  but  that  if  a  State  government  was  sought,  in  that  case  also, 
to  be  silent  concerning  slavery. 

A  letter  of  Mr.  Bedinger,  of  Virginia,  recommending  opposition  to  the 
State  movement,  because  the  movement,  if  consummated,  would  relieve 
the  administration  of  General  Taylor  of  a  difficulty  in  the  slavery  ques 
tion,  was  also  commented  on. 

The  State  movement,  despite  the  official  influence  which  had  been 
brought  to  bear  against  it,  and  despite  the  taunts  of  its  opponents, steadily 
advanced  in  public  estimation,  until  the  office-holders  themselves,  yield 
ing  with  what  of  grace  they  might,  to  the  belief  that  a  Territorial  gov 
ernment  could  not  be  obtained ,  came  into  the  movement,  and  attempted 
to  place  themselves  at  the  head  of  it. 

It  was  at  this  period  when  the  entire  population  of  New  Mexico  was 
in  favor  of  the  State  movement,  that  Colonel  Munroe  issued  his  pro 
clamation  for  the  reasons  therein  set  forth: 

Proclamation. 

Whereas,  the  people  of  New  Mexico  have,  by  public  mee'ings,  held 
in  the  several  counties  of  this  territory,  expressed  a  desire  to  hold  a  con 
vention  for  the  formation  of  a  State  constitution, and  to  urge  upon  Con 
gress  the  admission  of  this  territory  into  the  Union  as  a  State:  Therefore, 
I,  John  Munroe,  civil  and  military  governor  of  said  territory,  do  hereby 
direct;  that  the  qualified  electors  of  the  territory  of  New  Mexico  shall 
assemble  at  the  precincts  of  their  respective  counties,  on  Monday,  the 
6th  day  of  May  next,  between  the  rising  and  the  setting  of  the  sun,  to 
vote  by  ballot  for  delegates  to  a  convention  to  be  held  at  Santa  Pe,  on 
Wednesday,  the  15th  of  May  next,  as  follows: 
For  the  county  of  Taos,  three  delegates. 

Do.  Riu  Arriba,  three  delegates. 

Do.  Santa  Fe,  three  delegates. 

Do.  San  Miguel,  three  delegates. 

Do.  Santa  Ana,  two  delegates. 

Do.  Bernalillo,  two  delegates. 

Do.  Valencia,  five  delegates. 

The  piefects  shall  designate  convenient  precincts  in  their  respective 
counties,  and  shall  appoint  three  discreet  persons  as  judges  of  election 
in  the  several  precincts;  otherwise  said  elections  shall  be  conducted  in 
manner  and  form  as  prescribed  in  the  laws  of  the  Territory,  under  the 
title  of  "  Elections,'1  except  that  the  prefect's  clerk  of  each  county 
shall,  with  the  assistance  of  the  prefect,  examine  and  cast  up  the  votes 
given  to  each  candidate;  shall  give  a  certificate  of  election  to  the  per 
son  having  the  highest  number  of  votes,  and  shall  transmit  to  the  secre 
tary  of  the  Territory  a  fair  abstract  of  all  the  votes  given,  within  four 
days  after  the  day  of  election. 


Given  under  my  hand,  at  the  Government  house,  in  the  city  of 
Santa  Fe,  this  23d  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1850. 

JOHN  MUNROE, 
Military  and  Civil  Governor  Territory  N.  M. 

The  object  for  which  this  proclamation  was  issued,  met  with  the  un 
qualified  approbation  of  the  entire  population. 

The  short  notice  given  of  the  day  of  election;  the  throwing  the  entire 
control  of  the  election,  including  the  designation  of  precincts,  appoint 
ment  of  judges,  counting  the  votes,  and  making  returns  into  the  hands 
of  the  prefects  and  their  clerks,  who,  in  the  election  held  under  that 
proclamation,  were  themselves,  one  or  the  other,  candidates  in  every 
county ,  did  not  meet  the  approbation  of  the  State  party .  It  however  went 
into  the  election,  but  owing  to  the  advantages  we  have  mentioned,  the 
office* holders  elected  a  majority  of  the  convention.  This  convention 
framed  the  constitution  now  before  Congress.  Section  10  of  the  schedule 
to  which  is  in  these  words: 

"  10.  The  military  and  civil  governor  of  the  Territory  shall  be  re 
quested,  immediately  after  the  adjournment  of  this  convention,  to  issue 
writs  of  election  to  the  prefects  of  the  several  counties,  requiring  them 
to  cause  an  election  to  be  held  on  the  twentieth  day  of  June,  1850;  the 
electors  to  vote  for  or  against  this  constitution;  for  a  governor  and  lieu 
tenant  governor,  a  representative  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
senators  and  representatives  to  the  legislature;  and  the  returns  of  such 
election  shall  be  made  to  the  prefects,  who,  together  with  the  prefects' 
clerks,  shall  count  the  votes  given,  and  certificates  of  election  shall  be 
given  by  them  to  such  persons  as  shall  have  received  the  highest  num 
ber  of  votes  for  members  of  the  legislature.  The  prefects  of  the  several 
counties  shall  make  correct  returns,  under  their  hands,  of  all  the  votes 
given  in  their  respective  counties  for  governor  and  lieutenant  governor, 
and  representative  to  Congress,  and  votes  for  and  against  this  constitu 
tion,  to  the  present  secretary  of  the  Territory,  at  Santa  Fe,  who,  when 
the  legislature  shall  convene,  shall  lay  such  returns  before  them  on  the 
first  day  of  their  session,  so  soon  as  both  houses  shall  be  organized,  and 
the  speaker  of  the  house  of  representatives,  and  the  president  pro  tern- 
pore  of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the  presence  of  both  houses,  examine  the 
returns,  and  declare  who  are  elected  to  fill  those  offices,  and  ttie  votes 
for  and  against  this  constitution.  If  any  two  or  more  persons  shall 
have  an  equal  and  higher  number  of  votes  than  any  other  person  or 
persons,  the  legislature  shall  determine  the  election  in  the  manner  here 
inbefore  provided." 

May  28th,  Colonel  Munroe  issued  his  proclamation,  as  follows: 

PROCLAMATION. 

.  Whereas,  the  people  of  New  Mexico,  by  their  delegates  in  convention  assembled,  did, 
on  the  25th  day  of  May,  frame  a  State  constitution  for  the  Territory  of  New  Mexico,  and 
request  the  present  civil  and  military  governor  of  this  Territory  to  issue  a  proclamation 
for  elections,  for  the  purpose  of  submitting  the  same  to  the  people,  and  for  the  purpose  of 
electing  such  officers  as  are  provided  to  be  so  elected  in  said  constitution : 


Therefore,  I,  John  Munroe,  civil  and  military  governor  of  the  Territory  of  New  Mexico, . 
do  hereby  direct  that  the  qualified  electors  shall  assemble  at  the  precincts  of  their  respective 
counties  on  Thursday  the  20th  day  of  June  next,  between  the  rising  and  setting  of  the 
sun,  to  vote  on  a  separate  ballot  for  or  against  the  constitution  as  framed  by  the  convention, 
the  same  to  be  deposited  in  a  separate  box ;  and  on  another  separate  ballot,  to  be  deposited 
in  a  separate  box,  for  governor,  lieutenant  governor,  representatives  to  Congress,  and  for 
senators  and  representatives  to  a  State  legislature  to  convene  at  the  capital  on  Monday  the 
first  day  of  July  next.  It  being  provided  and  understood  that  the  election  of  all  officers  in 
this  election  can  only  be  valid  by  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  by  the  people,  and  other 
wise  null  and  void ;  and  that  all  action  of  the  governor,  lieutenant  governor,  and  of  the 
legislature  shall  remain  inoperative  until  New  Mexico  be  admitted  as  a  State  under  said 
constitution,  except  such  acts  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  primary  steps  of  organization, 
and  the  presentation  of  said  constitution  properly  before  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

The  present  government  shall  remain  in  full  force  until  by  the  action  of  Congress  another 
shall  be  substituted. 

The  election  shall  be  conducted  in  manner  and  form  as  prescribed  in  the  statute  laws 
now  in  force  in  this  Territory,  except  that  the  prefects  are  hereby  directed  forthwith  upon 
the  receipt  of  this  proclamation  to  divide  their  respective  counties  into  convenient  election 
precincts,  and  to  appoint  three  discreet  persons  in  each  precinct  as  judges  of  election,  who 
shall  appoint  two  clerks  of  their  respective  precincts. 

The  prefects,  with  the  assistance  of  the  prefects'  clerks,  shall,  within  six  days  after  the 
election,  count  up  all  the  votes  in  the  returns  of  the  several  precincts  of  their  counties, 
and  shall  immediately  issue  certificates  of  election  under  their  hands  to  the  persons  having 
the  highest  number  of  votes  for  representatives  to  the  State  legislature. 

They  shall  also  make  a  fair  abstract  of  the  returns  from  the  several  precincts  of  their 
respective  counties  of  all  the  votes  for  and  against  the  constitution,  for  governor,  lieutenant 
governor,  representatives  to  Congress,  and  State  senators,  and  despatch  the  same  immedi 
ately,  certified  under  their  hands,  to  the  secretary  of  the  Territory,  who  shall  issue  certifi 
cates  of  election  to  the  persons  having  the  highest  number  of  votes  for  members  of  the 
State  senate,  and  shall  lay  such  returns  before  the  two  houses  of  the  legislature  upon  the 
first  day  of  their  session  and  immediately  upon  their  being  organized. 

The  number  of  representatives  and  senators  for  the  respective  counties  and  districts  for 
the  State  legislature  shall  be  the  same  as  prescribed  for  the  Territorial  legislature  in  the 
statute  laws  of  this  Territory  now  in  force. 

When  any  county  officer,  whose  duty  it  may  be  to  sum  up  or  make  returns  of  votes  or 
certificates  of  election,  shall  be  a  candidate  for  any  office,  the  senor  alcalde  of  such  county 
shall  be  required  to  aid  in  counting  up  said  votes,  and  shall,  in  place  of  such  officer  being 
a  candidate,  sign  all  certificates  of  elections  as  hereinbefore  prescribed. 

Given  under  my  hand,  at  the  government  house,  city  of  Santa  Fe,  this  28th  day  of 
May,  A.  D.  1850. 

JOHN  MUNROE, 
Civil  and  Military  Governor  Territory  of  New  Mexico. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  in  issuing  this  last  proclamation  Colonel 
Munroe,  though  in  terms  basing  its  making  on  the  action  of  the  con 
vention,  exceeded  the  authority  conferred  upon  him  by  that  body.  His 
proviso*  that  the  State  government,  except  for  certain  purposes,  should 
remain  inactive  until  New  Mexico  should  be  admitted  by  Congress  as 
a  State,  was  a  clear  exercise  of  authority  not  conferred,  and  indeed 
directly  repugnant  to  section  7  of  the  schedule  to  the  constitution, 
which  limits  the  tenure  of  the  Territorial  officers  "  until  they  shall  be 
superseded  under  this  constitution  of  the  State  of  New  Mexico." 

The  proviso  not  having  been  based  on  authority  conferred  by  the 
delegates  of  the  people  in  convention,  except  by  the  office-holders  and 
their  adherents,  who  were  loud  in  their  commendations,  was  not  re 
spected  by  the  people. 

The  tendency  of  this  proviso  was  to  intimidate  the  people  by  holding 
over  them  officers  who,  supported  by  the  military  commander,  had 
invaded  their  dearest  rights. 


We  quote  from  the  memorial  of  the  legislature  of  New  Mexico : 

"The  inhabitants  of  New  Mexico,  since  February  2, 1848,  have  groaned  under  a  harsh 
law  forced  upon  them  in  time  of  war,  when  they  were  thought  unworthy  of  confidence. 

"  The  military  is  independent  of,  and  superior  to,  the  civil  power. 

"  The  inhabitants  have  no  voice  or  influence  in  making  the  laws  by  which  they  are 
governed. 

"  Some  power  other  than  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has  made  judges  dependant 
on  its  will  alone  for  the  tenure  of  their  offices,  and  the  amount  and  payment  of  their 
salaries. 

' '  Some  power  other  than  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has  subjected  us  to  a  juris 
diction  foreign  to  the  Constitution  and  unacknowledged  by  our  laws. 

"  We  are  taxed  without  our  consent,  and  the  taxes,  when  collected,  are  not  appropriated 
for  the  public  benefit,  but  embezzled  by  officers  irresponsible  to  the  people. 

"  No  officer  in  New  Mexico  is  responsible  to  the  people.  Judges  unlearned  in  the  law 
decide  upon  life,  liberty,  and  property.  Prefectos  and  alcaldes  impose  fines  and  incarcerate 
without  the  intervention  of  a  jury. 

"  Alcaldes  assail  the  right  of  the  people  freely  to  exercise  their  religion  without  re 
striction,  and  dictate  to  congregations  what  priest  shall  administer  the  sacraments  of  the 
Church." 

The  control  of  the  elections  was  again  in  the  hands  of  the  office 
holders  ;  but,  despite  all  adverse  circumstances,  the  people  triumphed, 
defeating  the  office-holders  in  every  county  but  one,  and  this  without 
taking  into  consideration  majorities  in  favor  of  the  former,  known  to 
exceed  in  the  aggregate  one  thousand,  which  had  been  suppressed  by 
the  prefectos  and  their  clerks. 

Mr.  Manuel  Alvarez,  having  been  elected  by  the  people  lieutenant 
governor,  was  installed  July  4,  1850,  and,  in  the  absence  of  the  gov 
ernor  elect,  he  on  that  day  entered  on  the  duties  of  governor  ;  the  chief 
of  the  faction,  as  it  had  been  denominated  by  the  office-holders  under 
the  military  commander,  thus  becoming  the  chief  of  the  State.  To 
the  able  correspondence  of  this  gentleman,  with  Colonel  Munroe,  I  re 
spectfully  make  reference,  as  indicative  of  the  attitude  of  antagonism 
between  the  choice  of  the  people  and  the  military  commander. 

The  whole  number  of  votes  against  the  constitution  was  thirty-nine, 
included  in  which  number  is  any  per  se  pro-slavery  party  which  may 
exist  in  New  Mexico.  I  say  per  se  pro-hlavery  party,  for  there  was  a 
fraction  of  the  Stale  party  in  favor  of  the  insertion  of  a  pro-slavery 
clause  in  the  constitution,  SOLELY  as  a  measure  of  policy ,  to  facili 
tate  the  admission  of  New  Mexico  into  the  Union  WITH  California. 
Another  fraction  of  the  same  party  was  in  favor  of  the  policy  of  Senator 
Foote — silence — and  this,  too,  as  a  measure  of  policy  only. 

If  there  were  any  individuals  in  New  Mexico  who  supposed  that  any 
constitutional  provision  on  the  subject  of  slavery  would  bring  about  the 
introduction  of  slave  labor  there,  they  must  be  included  among  those 
who  voted  against  the  constitution.  That  there  was  any  party  that 
advocated,  or  hoped  for,  the  introduction  of  slave  labor  in  New  Mexico, 
I  utterly  deny.  Of  this,  however,  there  can  be  no  manner  of  doubt, 
that  the  constitution  now  before  Congress  was  ratified  by  a  popular  vote 
of  six  thousand  seven  hundred  und  seventy-one,  thirty-nine  individuals 
only  voting  against  it;  and  this  was  the  vote  by  a  people  who,  by  their 


s 

course  in  the  recent  election,  have  demonstrated  that  they  are  the  reverse 
of  tame  submissionists  to  the  dictation  of  power. 

Servility  has  never  been  a  vice  of  the  people  of  New  Mexico  ;  in 
deed,  when  a  State  of  the  Mexican  confederacy,  she  exhibited  a  ten 
dency  to  that  too-wide  liberty  of  nullification  ;  and  now,  while  having 
abandoned  such  crudities  and  become  law-abiding  and  conservative, 
she  has  lost  no  portion  of  her  ancient  independence. 

The  detail  above  presented  is  in  many  of  its  parts  painful  to  me  to 
narrate.  I  desire  to  inflict  no  injury  on  the  good  repute  of  Colonel 
Munroe,  who  is  a  veteran  officer  twice  brevetted  fpr  his  services  in  the 
war  with  Mexico.  I  deem  it  due  to  this  gentleman  to  state  that 
throughout  he  expressed  his  desire  to  be  neutral  between  parties,  and 
to  lay  down  his  functions  as  governor,  as  soon  as  he  could  do  so,  consist 
ently  with  (what  he  believed  to  be)  his  duty. 

His  motives  I  intend  not  to  assail  ;  but  that  his  peculiar  ideas  of  duty 
have  brought  about  most  strange  results,  it  is  my  privilege  and  duty  to 
assert . 

Mr.  Bayly,  in  his  speech  heretofore  alluded  to,  has  quoted  from  a 
speech  of  Mr.  Webster's,  of  1848,  who  certainly  has  given  no  flattering 
account  of  the  people  of  New  Mexico.  Mr.  Webster's  remarks  are 
based  on  the  cited  authority  of  Mr.  Ruxton,  an  English  traveller  and 
writer  of  books. 

I  cannot  but  express  surprise  that  a  book  of  the  character  of  this  of 
Mr.  Ruxton's,  should  be  made  the  basis  of  a  determination  on  the  part 
of  Mr.  Bayly  to  keep  New  Mexico  out  of  the  Union  "for  twenty  years, 
perhaps  for  ever" — or,  indeed,  that  it  should  find  any  place  as  an  au 
thority,  in  a  debate  involving  the  political  liberty  of  a  community  of 
more  then  80,000  souls.* 

Without  drawing  any  comparison  in  regard  to  our  respective  constitu 
encies,  which  might  disturb  the  complacent  sensations  of  the  representa 
tive  of  Accomac,  or  without  reproducing  the  calumnies  of  Mr.  Ruxton, 
I  merely  say  that  if  this  writer  is  good  authority  for  one  fact,  he  should 
be  esteemed  good  for  all.  With  this  view  I  commend  to  Mr.  Bayly 
Mr.  Ruxton's  views  on  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  Mexican  war, 
marked  A  in  the  appendix.  1  commend  him  to  Mr.  Ruxton  on  the 
slavery  question,  page  299.  Mr.  Ruxton's  account  of  his  rubbing 
down  a  wild  buffalo,  page  286,  might  not  be  uninteresting. 

I  assert  that  while  it  is  evident,  from  his  boek  itself,  that  Mr.  Ruxton 
is  not  reliable  as  a  recorder  of  facts,  it  is  also  evident  that  his  object  in 
disparaging  the  Mexican,  is  to  depreciate  the  American  character, 
and  of  this  a  few  extracts  will  be  conclusive. 

Page  190.  "  The  inhabitants  are  worthy  of  their  city,"  (Santa  Fe)  "  and  a  more  raiser- 
able,  vicious-looking  population  it  would  be  impossible  to  imagine.  Neither  was  the  town 
improved,  at  the  time  of  my  visit,"  (December,  '46)  "  by  the  addition  to  the  population  of 
some  three  thousand  Americans,  the  dirtiest,  rowdiest  crew  I  have  seen  collected  together. 
Crowds  of  drunken  volunteers  filled  the  streets,  brawling  and  boasting,  but  never  fighting." 

These  were  the  Missouri  volunteers  of  Doniphan,  Price,  Clark, 
fyc. 

Page  303.  "  The  town"  (St.  Louis)  "  was  full  of  returned  volunteers  from  the  wars. 
The  twelvemonth's  campaign  they  had  been  engaged  in,  and  the  brilliant  victories  achiev- 

*  See  B,  in  the  appendix. 


9 

ed  by  them,  which,  according  to  the  American  newspapers,  are  unparalleled  in  the  annals 
of  the  world's  history,  have  converted  these  rowdy  and  vermin  covered  veterans  into  per 
fect  heroes ;  and  every  batch,  on  arriving,  is  feasted  by  the  public,  addresses  are  offered  to 
them,  the  officers  presented  with  swords  and  snuff-boxes,  and  honors  of  all  kinds  lavished 
upon  them  in  every  direction.  The  intense  glorifications  at  St.  Louis,  and  in  every  other 
part  of  the  United  States,  on  the  recent  successes  of  their  troops  over  the  miserable  Mexi 
cans,  which  were  so  absurd  as  to  cause  a  broad  grin  on  the  face  of  an  unexcited  neutral, 
make  me  recur  to  the  subject  of  this  war,  which  hitherto  I  have  avoided  mentioning  in  the 
body  of  this  little  narrative." 

"It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  trace  the  causes  of  the  war  at  present  raging  between  the 
two  Republics  of  North  America.  The  fable  of  the  wolf  and  the  lamb  drinking  at  the  same 
stream  may  be  quoted,  to  explain  to  the  world  the  reason  why  the  soi-disant  champion  of 
liberty  has  quarrelled  with  its  sister  State  for  "  muddying  the  water,  which  the  model 
Republic  uses  to  quench  its  thirst."  (See  A,  of  appendix. ) 

Siege  of  Vera  Cruz,  by  Ruxton,  page  25.  "  The  town  still  presents  numerous  souve 
nirs  of  the  bombardment  by  the  warlike  De  Joinville,  in  1839.  The  church  towers  are 
riddled  with  shot,  and  the  destructive  effects  of  shells  are  still  visible  in  the  heaps  of  ruins 
which  have  been  left  untouched.  Since  my  visit  it  has  also  felt  the  force  of  American  ire, 
and  withstood  a  fierce  bombardment  for  several  days,  with  what  object  it  is  impossible  to 
divine,  since  a  couple  of  thousand  men  might  have  at  any  time  taken  it  by  assault.  The 
castle  was  not  attacked,  and  was  concluded  in  the  capitulation  without  being  asked  for — 
cosa  de  Mexico  The  town  was  attacked  by  the  American  troops,  under  General  Scott, 
within  ten  months  after  my  visit.  It  suffered  a  bombardment,  as  is  well  known,  of  several 
days,  an  unnecessary  act  of  cruelty  in  my  opinion,  since,  to  my  knowledge,  there  were  no 
defences  around  the  city  which  could  not  have  been  carried,  including  the  city  itself,  by  a 
couple  of  battalions  of  Missouri  volunteers.  I  certainly  left  Vera  Cruz  under  the  impres 
sion  that  it  was  not  a  fortified  place,  with  the  exception  of  the  paltry  wall  I  have  mention 
ed,  which,  if  my  memory  serves  me,  was  not  even  loop-holed  for  musketry.  However, 
temporary  defences  might  have  been  thrown  up  in  the  interval  between  my  visit  and  the 
Americans'  attack  ;  still  I  can  but  think  that  the  bombardment  was  cruel  and  unnecessary. 
The  castle  could  have  have  been  carried  by  a  frigate's  boarders,  having  but  seven  hundred 
naked  Indians  to  defend  it." 

What  a  mortification  to  the  people  of  the  U.  S.  to  discover  that  their 
General-in-chief ,  whom  they  in  their  ignorance  had  supposed  the  great 
est  military  genius  of  the  age,  is  a  HUMBUG  ;  for  this  must  be  the 
conclusion  if  Mr.  Ruxton  is  to  be  the  historian. 

Pages  178 — 9  "  The  American  can  never  be  made  a  soldier  ;  his  constitution  will  not 
bear  the  restraint  of  discipline,  neither  will  his  very  mistaken  notions  about  liberty  allow 
him  to  subject  himself  to  its  necessary  control.  *  *  * 

No  people  know  better  the  advantages  of  discipline  than  do  the  officers  of  the  regular 
service  ;  and  it -is  greatly  to  their  credit  that  they  can  keep  the  standing  army  in  the  state 
it  is.  As  it  is  mostly  composed  of  foreigners — Germans,  English,  and  Irish,  and  deserters 
from  the  British  army — they  might  be  brought  to  as  perfect  a  state  of  discipline  as  any  of 
the  armies  of  Europe;  but,  &c.,  &c." 

What  a  fortunate  circumstance  that  our  army  in  Mexico  was  "  most 
ly  composed  of  foreigners — Germans,  English,  Irish,  and  deserters  from 
the  British  army"  !  !  ! 

Before  proceeding  farther  to  show  to  what  wretched  shifts  even 
acute  minds  must  resort,  when  engaged  in  making  the  worse  appear  the 
better  cause,  I  quote  entire  one  of  the  arguments  of  Mr.  Bayly. 

"There  are  other  provisions  of  the  Constitution  which  must  be  violated  before  New 
Mexico  can  be  brought  into  this  Union  as  a  State." 

"  The  Constitution  declares  that  no  person  shall  be  a  representative  who  shall  not  have 
attained  the  age  of  twenty-five,  nor  senator  who  shall  not  have  attained  the  age  of  thirty, 
and  beenjn  case  of  a  representative,  seven  years,  and  in  case  of  a  senator  nine  years,  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  State 
in  which  he  shall  be  chosen.  Now,  sir,  how  is  this  requisition  of  the  Constitution  to  be  • 
complied  with  ?  How  many  persons  are  there  in  New  Mexico  qualified  for  representa 
tives  and  senators?  I  see  my  friend  from  New  York,  (Mr.  Duer)  smiles.  He  doubtless 


10 

recollects  that  this  objection  was  urged  in  the  case  of  the  admission  of  Texas,  and  proba 
bly  that  I  answered  it  on  this  floor." 

"  But  I  will  show  him  they  are  not  analogous.  There  were  in  Texas,  at  the  time  of 
her  admission,  at  least  one  hundred  thousand  native  American  citizens.  It  was  true  they 
had  expatriated  themselves,  and  were  at  that  time  citizens  of  Texas.  I  showed,  however, 
by  the  law  of  nations,  as  recognised  by  our  courts,  that  the  moment  they  were  brought 
again  under  our  jurisdiction,  they  became  restored  to  their  original  rights  and  privileges. 
They  became  at  once,  in  the  language  of  our  jurists,  redintegi-ate  citizens.  But  there  are 
not  one  thousand  American  citizens  in  New  Mexico.  The  most  authentic  accounts  do  not 
make  the  number  greater  than  five  hundred,  and  no  account  makes  them  more  than  twelve 
hundred.  For  the  argument,  let  us  suppose  that  there  are  that  number ;  nearly  one  half 
of  them  are  females  ;  more  than  half  the  remainder  are  under  the  ages  of  twenty-five  and 
thirty,  so  that  the  range  within  which  to  select  a  representative  and  two  senators,  would  be 
confined,  (supposing  there  are  twelve  hundred  Americans  ther6,)  to  about  three  hundred 
persons.  The  truth  is,  it  would  be  confined  within  narrower  limits. 

"  Of  the  sort  of  people  of  whom  this  number  is  composed,  this  House  is  pretty  well  in 
formed  It  is  certain  they  are  not  such  as  would  be  likely  to  be  elected  senators  and  rep 
resentatives  in  the  old  States,  or  they  would  not  be  in  New  Mexico. 

"  Will  any  body  seriously  contend  that  to  give  a  representative  and  two  senators  to  such 
a  number  of  persons  would  not  be  an  outrage  on  the  spirit  of  our  institutions?  Will  any 
body  say  that  such  a  people  should  have  in  the  Senate  an  equal  vote  with  New  York, 
Virginia,  and  the  other  States,  in  deciding  upon  the  great  interests  of  this  nation  ?" 

Mr.  Duer  smiled! — of  course  he  did.  What  does  Mr.  Bayly  mean? 
It  is  evident  that  his  objection  is  not  that  New  Mexico  cannot  send  sen 
ators  and  representatives  legally  qualified  by  citizenship  of  nine  and 
seven  years,  for  he  admits  there  are  in  New  Mexico  three  hundred  Na 
tive  Americans  over  the  ages  of  twenty-five  and  thirty  from  whom  to 
choose.  If  he  means  they  are  of  that  "sort"  which  will  fall  below 
the  Congressional  intellectual  standard,  this  I  must  ad  mil  is  lamenta 
ble,  but  I  respectfully  submit,  not  unconstitutional;  and  if  his  argument 
is  to  be  received  as  the  measure  of  the  standard,  Mr.  Bayly  may  safely 
lay  aside  his  uneasiness  that  New  Mexico  will  not  be  able  to  come  up 
to  it. 

Does  Mr.  Bayly  mean  that  only  Native  Americans  are  entitled  to 
representation  ?  But  there  is  his  argument,  and  any  body  may  make 
of  it  what  he  can. 

To  a  portion  of  the  audience  I  am  addressing,  no  argument  need  be 
directed.  Their  votes  conforming  to  their  theory,  they  surely  will  not 
force  upon  an  unwilling  people  a  Territorial  government.  I  allude  to 
those  who  believe  that  upon  Congress  has  not  been  conferred  the  con 
stitutional  power  to  erect  temporary  governments  for  the  Territories  in 
any  case  whatsoever;  and  that,  heretofore,  in  erecting  such  temporary 
governments,  Congress  has  acted  without  the  least  color  of  constitutional 
authority.  The  speech  of  the  distinguished  Senator  from  Michigan, 
(Mr.  Cass)  delivered  January  21  and  22,  1850,  is  fresh  in  the  recollec 
tion  of  Congress,  and  I  therefore  make  no  extracts  from  it. 

If  in  erecting  territorial  governments,  with  the  intent  of  affording 
protection  to  a  community,  desiring  this  aid,  Congress  overleaps  consti 
tutional  restraints,  and  assumes  powers  not  conferred,  surely,  to  force 
upon  an  unwilling  people  a  government  not  of  their  choice,  is  an  exer 
cise  of  power  not  conferred,  which  can  neither  be  justified,  nor  excused. 

New  Mexico, since  1848,  has  repeatedly  appealed  to  Congress  to  give 
her  a  territorial  government  and,  until  within  a  few  months,  her  re- 


11 

peated  appeals  have  been  met  by  repeated  neglect.  By  the  presenta 
tion  of  her  constitution  she  has  withdrawn  her  application  for  a  territo 
rial  government,  and  expressed  a  desire  to  govern  herself;  to  be  admit 
ted  into  the  Union  with  all  her  political  rights  perfected;  to  take  her  sta 
tion  as  a  sovereign  State.  Her  right  to  be  admitted  as  a  State  of  the 
Union,  I  believe  to  be  clear,  and  in  accordance  with  established  prece 
dents,  and  this  I  will  proceed  to  show. 

I  hold  that  while  Congress  should  exercise  no  power  not  conferred 
by  the  Constitution,  it  is  bound  to  exercise  those  conferred,  whenever 
such  exercise  is  necessary  to  give  effect  to  existing  rights. 

When  the  treaty-making  power  has  concluded  a  treaty  with  a  foreign 
State,  and  thereby  brought  into  existence  rights,  it  is  the  bounden  duty 
of  Congress,  by  proper  legislation,  to  make  effective  those  rights. 

The  treaty  of  Gaudaloupe  Hidalgo  furnishes  an  illustration  of  this 
principle.  By  that  treaty  the  faith  of  the  United  States  was  pledged  to 
prevent  the  incursions  of  Indians,  resident  within  our  limits,  into  the 
republic  of  Mexico;  and  already  is  Mexico,  through  her  minister,  de 
manding  of  our  Government  that  it  carry  out  this  provision  of  the  treaty; 
and  the  demand  of  the  minister  has  been  transmitted  by  the  Pres 
ident  to  Congress,  that  the  necessary  law  may  be  passed  to  make  effec 
tive  this  right  of  Mexico. 

The  passage  of  the  laws  of  1793  and  1850,  commonly  known  as  the 
fugitive  slave  laws,  may  be  considered  Congressional  adjudications,  indi 
cative  of  acquiescence  in  the  principle  stated;  that  it  is  the  bounden 
duly  of  Congress  to  exercise  powers  conferred,  whenever  such  exercise  is 
necessary  to  give  effect  to  existing  right. 

The  right  of  representation,  "the  inestimable  right  of  representa 
tion"  acknowledged  on  all  hands,  and  from  the  beginning  of  our  inde 
pendent  existence,  it  is  the  bounden  duty  of  Congress  to  make  effective 
by  such  legislation  as  is  permitted  by  the  Constitution;  and  it  has  been 
the  invariable  practice  of  Congress,  whenever  the  number  of  souls 
composing  a  community,  not  a  State,  approaches  the  ratio  of  repre 
sentation,  to  make  effective  the  right  of  representation,  by  admitting 
such  community  as  a  State  of  the  Union  with  a  republican  constitution. 

By  the  omission  of  Congress  to  legislate  so  as  to  give  effect  to  exist 
ing  rights,  as  flagrant  violations  of  the  Constitution,  may  be  consumma 
ted,  as  by  the  exercise  of  powers  not  conferred;  and  this  position  I  do 
not  deem  it  necessary  farther  to  illustrate. 

I  hold  that  the  admission  of  a  new  State  is  a  compact  between  the 
General  Government  and  the  new  State;  and  in  the  absence  of  any  gen 
eral  law  prescribing  the  mode  of  proceeding,  it  is  unimportant  which 
takes  the  initiative,  whether  Congress  first  by  law  authorizes  the  com 
munity  to  frame  a  constitution,  and  thus  holds  out  to  it  an  invitation  to 
become  a  State;  or  the  community,  without  such  preliminary  law, 
frames  a  constitution,  and  by  transmitting  it  to  Congress  makes  the 
proposition  to  be  admitted. 

States  have  been  admitted  either  way.  Tennessee,  Arkansas,  Michi 
gan,  and  California,  all  took  the  initiative  and  without  preliminary 


12 


laws,  framed  constitutions  and  transmitted  them  to  Congress;  and  they 
are  all  now  States  of  the  Union. 

In  no  one  instance,  where  the  new  State  has  taken  the  initiative,  has 
Congress  required  it  to  undo  this  work,  and  begin  cle  novo>  with  its  per 
mission. 

The  admission  of  the  States  of  Tennessee,  Arkansas,  Michigan  and 
California,  taken  in  connexion  with  the  admission  of  those  States  which 
framed  constitutions,  after  preliminary  laws  of  Congress  authorizing  the 
same,  may  be  considered  the  congressional  adjudication  of  the  princi 
ple  last  above  stated. 

The  attitude  in  which  Michigan  came  before  Congress  for  admission 
is  almost  identical  with  the  present  one  of  New  Mexico.  I  place  in 
parallel  columns  the  different  points: 

1.  The  people  of  Michigan,  without  pre-  1.  The  people  of  New  Mexico,  without 

liminary  law  of   Congress    authorizing  it,  preliminary  law  of  Congress  authorizing  it, 

met  by  their  delegates  in  convention,  and  met,  by  their  delegates  in  convention,  and 

framed  a  State  constitution,  which  was  sub-  framed  a  State  constitution,  which  was  sub 


sequently  ratified  by  popular  vote. 

2.  After  the  ratification  of  the  constitu 
tion  by  the  people,  and  before  the  same  had 
been  accepted  by  Congress,  the  State  gov 
ernment  of  Michigan  was  set  in  motion,  dis 
placing  the  Territorial  government  author 
ized  by  Congress. 


3.  Within  the  boundaries  of  Michigan, 
set  forth  in  her  constitution,  was  included 
territory  claimed  by  the  State  of  Ohio. 


sequently  ratified  by  popular  vote. 

2.  After  the  ratification  of  the  constitution 
by  the  people,  and  before  the  same  had  been 
accepted    by  Congress,  the    State  govern 
ment  of  New  Mexico  was  partially  set  in 
motion.      Its  action,  was    impeded   by  the 
military  commander,  Col.   Monroe.     The 
State  government  there,  postponing  its  ac 
tion  from  an  unwillingness,  even  in  appear 
ance,  to  seem  hostile  to  the  Government 
and  people  of  the  United  States,  asserting; 
however,  the  right  of  the  people,  in  the  ab 
sence  of  Congressional  legislation,  to  make  for 
themselves  such  provisional  government,  not 
inconsistent  with  the  laws  and  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  as  to  them  seemed  best, 
and  denying  the  right  of  any  officer  of  the 
army  to  interfere  in  the  matter.     (See  cor 
respondence  of  Gov.  Alvarez  with  Col.  Mon 
roe.) 

3.  Within  the  boundaries  of  New  Mexico, 
set  forth  in  her  constitution,  was  included 
territory  claimed  by  the  State  of  Texas. 


4.  Congress  having  settled  the  disputed         4.  Congress  having  settled  the  disputed 
boundary  between  Ohio  and  Michigan,  de-     boundary  between  Texas  and  New  Mexico 
clared  the  latter  a  State  of  the  Union,  on  con-    *        * 
dition  that  the  people  of  that  State,  by  a  con 
vention  held  for  that  purpose,  should  acqui 
esce  in  the  boundaries  indicated  by  Congress. 

Here  the  parallel  ceases. 

Up  to  the  point  of  admission  as  a  State,  the  difference  which  exists  in 
the  attitudes  of  Michigan  and  New  Mexico,  is  clearly  in  favor  of  the 
latter. 

The  State  government  of  Michigan,  after  ratification,  and  before  ac 
ceptance  of  the  constitution,  was  put  in  motion,  displacing  the  territo 
rial  government  authorized  by  Congress,  a  kind  of  government  which , 


13 

until  the  speech  of  the  distinguished  Senator  from  Michigan,  was  very 
generally  conceded  to  be  dejure. 

In  their  memorial  to  Congress  the  legislature  of  New  Mexico  thus 
shows  the  attitude  of  New  Mexico: 

"The  Congress,  because  of  disturbing  causes,  having  failed  to  make  needful  rules  and 
regulations  for  the  territory  of  New  Mexico,  its  inhabitants,  encouraged  by  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  and  driven  by  necessity,  have  formed  and  ratified  a  constitution, 
elected  a  governor,  vice  governor,  and  members  of  the  legislature. 

"The  legislature  is  now  engaged,  in  the  absence  of  Congressional  legislation,  in  making 
laws  suited  to  the  wants  of  the  people,  and  consistent  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States. 

"In  putting  in  operation  the  form  of  government  set  forth  in  the  constitution,  they  be 
lieve  they  have  done  no  act  inconsistent  with  a  proper  respect  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States.  The  form  of  government  adopted  by  the  people  of  New  Mexico  is  set  up 
in  opposition  to  no  government  recognised  by  Congress,  or  known  to  the  Constitution  and 
laws,  but  simply  takes  the  place,  under  circumstances  of  urgent  necessity,  of  an  unac 
knowledged  government,  which  has  utterly  failed  to  protect  the  inhabitants  of  New  Mexico 
in  their  dearest  rights,  or  to  preserve  the  plighted  faith  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States." 

Respecting  this  difference,  who  can  doubt  lhat  the  course  of  New 
Mexico  was  the  more  moderate,  the  more  conservative,  the  more  law- 
abiding? 

Admitting  that  Congress  has  the  power  to  erect  temporary  govern 
ments  for  the  territories,  surely  the  act  of  Michigan,  in  ousting  the  gov 
ernment  authorized  by  Congress,  was  an  usurpation;  yet  Michigan  was 
admitted  as  a  State. 

Will  not  Congress,  by  refusing  to  admit  New  Mexico  as  a  Slate, 
legislate  for  the  encouragement  of  usurpation  and  the  punishment  of 
moderation  ? 

The  spirit  of  moderation,  forbearance,  and  conservatism,  exhibited 
by  the  people  of  New  Mexico,  since  the  treaty  of  Gaudaloupe  Hidalgo, 
is  deserving  the  commendation  of  every  good  citizen  of  this  Republic, 
and  might  be  imitated  with  advantage  by  other  portions  of  the  country 
but  little  blessed  with  those  virtues. 

Though  harassed  by  officials,  under  a  military  despotism,  as  set 
forth  in  the  memorial  of  the  legislature,  and  threatened  with  the  bayo 
nets  of  the  United  States  if  they  attempted  to  disturb  that  unauthorized 
government,  though  filled  with  indignation,  they  have  preferred  yet 
a  little  longer  to  suffer,  rather  than  appear  in  the  eyes  of  undiscriminat- 
ing  persons  to  be  unfriendly  to  the  institutions  or  people  of  the  United 
States. 

Upon  the  arrival  in  New  Mexico  of  the  commissioner  of  Texas,  in 
public  meetings  gotten  up  by  the  judges,  attorneys,  contractors,  and 
the  like,  the  spirit  of  mob- violence  was  invoked  by  those  functionaries, 
who  attempted  to  organize  a  system  of  insult  and  violence  against  the 
person  of  the  Texan  commissioner. 

The  object  of  the  mission  of  this  gentleman  was  utterly  repugnant  to 
the  people  of  New  Mexico;  yet  they  becomingly  rebuked  the  violent 
course  which  the  authorities  were  disposed  to  pursue;  and  this  gentle 
man,  during  his  stay  in  New  Mexico,  met  with  no  insult  or  want  of 


'    14 

hospitality,  though  the  object  of  his  mission  was  altogether  odious  to 
the  people. 

Had  the  violent  views  of  the  authorities  not  been  restrained  by  the 
sound  public  opinion  of  the  people  of  New  Mexico,  collision  and  blood 
shed  would  doubtless  have  taken  place  between  Texas  and  New  Mexi 
co;  and,  we  believe,  it  is  no  rash  assumption,  that  in  the  then  excited 
state  of  the  public  mind  in  the  United  States,  the  most  direful  conse 
quences  would  have  resulted. 

From  the  debates  and  proceedings  on  the  admission  of  Michigan  and 
Arkansas,  we  make  the  following  extracts: 

Senate,  December  10th,  1835.  The  message  of  President  Jackson,  in  reference  to  the 
admission  of  Michigan,  was  received. 

January  26th,  1836.  The  memorial  of  the  legislature  of  Michigan,  on  the  subject  of  her 
admission  into  the  Union,  having  been  presented,  Mr..Hendricks  moved  that  it  be  laid  on 
the  table. 

Mr.  .King-,  of  Alabama,  suggested  giving  the  memorial  the  same  direction  that  had  been 
given  to  a  memorial,  having  reference  to  the  admission  of  Michigan,  in  the  other  House. 
******** 

Mr.  Hendricks  withdrew  his  motion  to  lay  on  the  table,  and  submitted  a  motion,  as 
follows : 

"Ordered,  That  the  memorial,  purporting  to  be  from  the  senate  and  house  of  repre 
sentatives  of  the  State  of  Michigan,  be  referred  to  the  select  committee,  appointed  Dec.  22, 
in  relation  to  the  admission  of  Michigan  into  the  Union,  and  that  the  Senate  regard  the 
same  in  no  other  light  than  as  the  voluntary  act  of  individuals."  * 

Mr.  Niles  said  that,  aside  from  matters  of  form,  he  was  disposed  to  regard  the  petition 
as  coming  from  the  people  of  Michigan,  claiming  political  rights  of  the  highest  magnitude, 
and  he  could  not  refuse  to  hear  them  ;  and,  last  of  all,  a  memorial  coming  from  a  whole 
people  claiming  admission  into  the  Federal  Union.  Have  they  not  a  right  to  select  their 
own  mode  of  application  ?  They  come  here  not  asking  a  matter  of  favor,  but  a  matter  of  right. 
Had  they  not  a  right  to  select  their  own  committee  to  represent  those  rights?  For  his  part, 
he  was  disposed  to  hear  them.  If  there  ever  was  a  people  who  claimed  rights  of  a  high 
character,  if  was  those  who  had  political  rights  and  were  not  represented.  * 

March  30th — Mr.  Buchanan.  The  first  objection  he  should  consider  wa»  the  one  sug 
gested  rather  than  insisted  on  by  the  Senator  from  Delaware  ;  and  that  was,  that  no  act 
had  been  passed  by  Congress  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  the  people  of  Michigan  to  form 
a  State  constitution,  in  obedience  to  what  had  been  supposed  to  be  the  custom  in  regard  to 
other  States  that  had  been  admitted  into  the  Union.  Now,  was  there,  he  would  ask,  any 
reason  for  passing  such  an  act?  Was  it  required  by  principle,  or  was  it  required  by  prac 
tice?  He  utterly  denied  that  it  was  required  either  by  the  one  or  the  other,  before  a  new 
State  may  be  admitted  into  the  Union;  and  whether  it  was,  given  previously  or  subse 
quently  to  the  application  of  a  State  for  admission  into  the  Union,  was  of  no  earthly  im 
portance.  He  admitted  that  the  passage  of  such  an  act,  previously  to  the  admission  of  a 
new  State  was  the  best  course  to  adopt;  but  if  a  people  had  formed  a  republican  constitu 
tion,  and  if  Congress  should  think  they  had  assumed  proper  boundaries,  was  there  any 
objection  to  their  admission,  whether  the  preliminary  law  had  been  passed  or  otherwise? 
But  in  the  history  of  this  Government  there  had  been  precedents  to  sanction  this  bill,  and 
they  had  one  which  applied  expressly  to  this  very  case ;  it  being  utterly  impossible  to 
distinguish  between  the  two,  unless  in  favor  of  Michigan.  He  referred  to  the  case  of 
Tennessee,  found  in  2d  volume  Laws  of  the  United  States.  The  preamble  *  *  *  *" 
Yet  without  the  previous  assent  of  Congress,  Tennessee  formed  her  constitution,  knocked 
at  the  door  of  Congress  for  admission,  and,  being  a  welcome  stranger,  was  cordially  ad 
mitted.  He  would  then  ask  gentlemen  to  mete  out  the  same  measure  of  justice  and  lib 
erality  to  Michigan  which  was  meted  out  to  Tennessee.  Ought  they  to  be  offended  with  the 
eagerness  of  new  States  for  admission  into  all  the  rights,  privileges,  and  benefits  of  the  Union,  at 
a  time,  too,  wlien  some  of  the  old  States  were  threatening  to  leave  it  ? 

April  1st Mr.  Benton.    *    *    :*    Mr.  B.  then  entered  into  an  ample  vindication  of  the 

right  of  the  people  of  Michigan  and  Arkansas  to  meet  in  convention,  without  a  preliminary 
law  of  Congress,  adopt  constitutions,  and  send  them  here  for  examination.     : 
He  said  that  Congress  could  not  reject  a  constitution,  except  in  the  single  case  of  which  it  was  the 
guaranty— that  of  its  republican  character. 


15 

April  2d .     The  bill  was  passed  in  the  following  form  : 

"  A  bill  to  establish  the  northern  boundary  line  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  and  to  provide  for 
the  admission  of  the  State  of  Michigan  into  the  Union,  upon  the  conditions  therein  ex 
pressed." 

"  Be  it  enacted,  &c.,  That  the  northern  boundary  of  the  State  of  Ohio  shall  be  estab 
lished  at,  &c.,  &c. 

Sec.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  constitution  and  State  government,  which 
the  people  of  Michigan  have  formed  for  themselves,  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby,  accepted, 
ratified,  and  confirmed  ;  and  that  the  said  State  of  Michigan  shall  be,  and  is  hereby  declared 
to  be,  one  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  is  hereby  admitted  into  the  Union  on  an 
equal  footing  with  the  original  States,  in  all  respects  whatsoever:  Provided  always,  and  this 
admission  is  upon  the  express  condition  that  the  said  State  shall  consist  of,  and  have 
jurisdiction  over,  all  territory  included  within  the  following  boundaries,  and  over  none 
other,  to  wit :  beginning,  &c.,  &c. 

Sec.  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  as  a  compliance  with  the  fundamental  condition 
of  admission,  contained  in  the  last  preceding  section  of  this  act,  the  boundaries  of  the  said 
State  of  Michigan,  as  in  that  section  described,  declared  and  established,  shall  receive  the 
assent  of  a  convention  of  delegates,  elected  by  the  people  of  the  said  State  for  the  sole  pur 
pose  of  giving  the  assent  herein  required  ;  and  as  soon  as  the  assent  herein  required  shall 
be  given,  the  President  of  the  United  States  shall  announce  the  same  by  proclamation,  and 
thereupon,  and  without  any  further  proceeding  on  the  part  of  Congress,  the  admission  of 
the  said  State  into  the  Union,  as  one  of  the  United  States  of  America,  on  an  equal  footing 
with  the  original  States  in  all  respects  whatsoever,  shall  be  considered  as  complete,  and 
the  Senators  and  Representatives  who  have  been  elected  by  the  said  State  as  its  represent 
atives  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  entitled  to  take  their  seats  in  the  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives  respectively,  without  further  delay. 

Sec.  4.  (Refers  to  the  public  lands.) 

DEBATE  ON  THE  ADMISSION  OF  ARKANSAS. 

April  4th,  1836.  Mr.  Buchanan  asked  for  the  yeas  and  nays  on  the  passage  of  the  bill 
for  admission  of  Arkansas,  and  they  were  accordingly  ordered. 

Mr.  Morris,  of  Ohio,  said,  before  I  record  my  vote  in  favor  of  the  passage  of  the  bill 
under  consideration,  I  must  ask  the  indulgence  of  the  Senate  for  a  moment,  while  I  offer  a 
few  of  the  reasons  which  govern  me  in  the  vote  I  shall  give.  Being  one  of  the  Representa 
tives  of  a  free  State,  and  believing  slavery  to  be  wrong  in  principle  and  mischievous  in  practice,  I 
wish  to  be  clearly  understood  on  the  subject,  both  here  and  by  those  I  have  the  honor  to 
represent.  I  have  objections  to  the  constitution  of  Arkansas,  on  the  ground  that  slavery 
is  recognised  in  that  constitution,  and  settled  and  established  as  a  fundamental  principle  in 
her  government.  I  object  to  the  existence  of  this  principle  forming  a  part  of  the  organic  law  in 
any  State ;  and  I  would  vote  against  the  admission  of  Arkansas  as  a  member  of  this  Union,  if  I 
believed  I  had  the  power  to  do  so.  The  wrong,  in  a  moral  sense,  with  which  1  view  slavery, 
would  be  sufficient  for  me  to  do  this,  did  I  not  consider  my  political  obligations,  and  the 
duty  as  a  member  of  this  body  1  owe  to  the  Constitution  under  which  I  now  act,  clearly 
require  of  me  the  vote  I  shall  give.  I  hold  that  any  portion  of  American  citizens,  who 
may  reside  on  a  portion  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  whenever  their  numbers  shall 
amount  to  that  which  would  entitle  them  to  a  representation  in  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  in  Congress,  have  the  right  to  provide  for  themselves  a  constitution  and  State  govern 
ment,  and  to  be  admitted  into  the  Union  whenever  they  shall  so  apply;  and  they  are  not 
bound  to  wait  the  action  of  Congress  in  the  first  instance,  except  there  is  some  compact  or 
agreement  requiring  them  to  do  so.  I  place  this  right  on  the  broad,  and,  I  consider,  indis 
putable  ground,  that  all  persons  living  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  are 
entitled  to  equal  privileges,  and  it  ought  to  be  matter  of  high  gratification  to  us  here,  that  in 
every  portion,  even  the  most  remote  of  our  country,  our  people  are  anxious  to  obtain  this  high 
privilege  at  as  early  a  day  as  possible.  It  furnishes  clear  proof  that  the  Union  is  highly  esteemed, 
and  has  its  foundations  deep  in  the  hearts  of  our  felloio-citizens. 

By  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  power  is  given  to  Congress  to  admit  new  States 
into  the  Union.  It  is  in  the  character  as  a  State  that  any  portion  of  our  citizens,  inhabit 
ing  any  part  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  must  apply  to  be  admitted  into  the 
Union  ;  a  State  government  and  constitution  must  first  be  formed.  It  is  not  necessary  for 
the  power  of  Congress,  and  I  doubt  whether  Congress  has  such  power,  to  prescribe  the 
mode  by  which  the  people  shall  form  a  State  constitution  ;  and  for  this  plain  reason,  that 
Congress  would  be  entirely  incompetent  to  the  exercise  of  any  coercive  power  to  carry 
into  effect  the  mode  they  might  prescribe.  I  cannot,  therefore,  vote  against  the  admission 
of  Arkansas  into  the  Union,  on  the  ground  that  there  was  no  previous  act  of  Congress  to 


.'.    16 

authorize  the  holding  of  her  convention.  As  a  member  of  Congress,  I  will  not  look  be 
yond  the  constitution  that  has  been  presented.  I  have  no  right  to  presume  it  was  formed 
by  incompetent  persons,  or  that  it  does  not  fully  express  the  opinion  and  wishes  of  the 
people  of  that  country. 

It  is  true  that  the  United  States  shall  guaranty  to  every  State  a  republican  form  of  gov 
ernment  ;  meaning,  in  my  judgment,  that  Congress  shall  not  permit  any  power  to  establish 
in  any  State  a  government  without  the  assent  of  the  people  of  such  State  ;  and  it  will  not 
be  amiss,  if  we  remember,  that  the  guaranty  is  to  the  State,  and  not  as  to  the  formation  of 
the  government  by  the  people  of  the  State  ;  but  should  it  be  admitted  that  Congress  can 
look  into  the  constitution  of  a  State,  in  order  to  ascertain  its  character,  before  such  State  is 
admitted  into  the  Union,  yet  1  contend  that  Congress  cannot  object  to  it  for  want  of  repub 
lican  form,  if  it  contains  the  great  principle  that  all  power  is  inherent  in  the  people,  and 
that  the  Government  draws  all  its  just  powers  from  the  governed. 

The  people  of  the  Territory  of  Arkansas  having  formed  for  themselves  a  State  govern 
ment,  having  presented  their  constitution  for  admission  into  the  Union,  and  that  constitu 
tion  being  republican  in  its  form,  and  believing  that  the  people  who  prepared  and  sent  this 
constitution  are  sufficiently  numerous  to  entitle  them  to  a  representation  in  Congress  ;  and 
believing,  also,  that  Congress  has  no  right  or  power  to  regulate  the  system  of  police  these 
people  have  established  for  themselves,  and  the  ordinance  of  1787  not  operating  on  them, 
nor  have  they  entered  into  any  agreement  with  the  United  States  that  slavery  should  not 
be  admitted  in  their  State,  have  the  right  to  choose  this  lot  for  themselves — though  I  regret 
they  have  made  this  choice  ;  yet  believing  that  this  Government  has  no  right  to  interfere  ivith 
the  question  of  slavery  in  any  of  the  States,  or  prescribe  what  shall  or  shall  not  be  considered 
property  in  the  different  States,  or  by  what  tenure  property  of  any  kind  shall  be  holden,  but  that 
all  these  are  questions  of  State  policy,  I  cannot,  as  a  member  of  this  body,  refuse  my  vole  to  admit 
this  State  into  the  Union,  because  her  constitution  recognises  the  right  and  existence  of 
slavery. 

This,  to  my  mind,  is  conclusive  on  this  subject,  and  I  did  believe  there  was  not  any  just 
ground  for  the  objections  urged  against  the  admission  of  Michigan,  nor  can  1  now  believe 
that  those  against  the  admission  of  Arkansas  ought  to  prevail,  either  because  there  has 
been  no  previous  act  of  Congress  to  authorize  her  people  to  form  a  constitution,  as  has 
been  urged  by  one  Senator ;  or  because  her  constitution  admits  slavery,  as  has  been  urged 
by  another. 

Under  every  view  which  I  have  been  able  to  take  on  these  important  questions,  the  ap 
plication  of  both  Michigan  and  Arkansas  for  admission  into  the  Union  is  not  prohibited  by 
any  provision  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  that  Congress  has  not  the  power 
to  enter  into  any  compromise,  bargain,  or  agreement,  with  the  people  of  these  States,  in  order  to 
procure  a  change,  amendment,  or  alteration  of  their  constitutions  ;  nor  has  Congress  the  power 
to  make  any  such  requirement,  or  to  effect  such  change  ;  but  that  each  State  has  the  right 
to  present  herself  for  admission,  in  her  own  time  and  manner,  and  that  justice  and  sound 
policy  require  the  admission  of  both  the  States  that  now  seek  it.  " 

On  the  final  passage  of  the  bill  admitting  Arkansas,  (he  vote  stood  as 
follows  : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Benton,  Brown,  Buchanan,  Calhoun,  Clayton,  Cuthbert,  Ewing  of 
Illinois,  Ewing  of  Ohio,  Grundy,  Hendricks,  Hill,  Hubbard,  King  of  Alabama,  King  of 
Georgia,  Linn,  McKean,Mangum,  Moore,  Morris,  Nicholas,  Niles,  Preston,  Rives,  Rob 
inson,  Ruggles,  Shepley,  Tallmadge,  Tipton,  Walker,  White,  Wright— 31. 

Nays — Messrs.  Clay,  Knight,  Porter,  Prentiss,  Robbins,  Swift — 6. 

Michigan,  December  29,  1836.  Mr.  BENTON:  The  subject  has  been  already  4  or  5 
years  before  Congress ;  it  is  a  mere  question  of  right — a  right  which  had  existed  4  years 
ago,  but  which,  &c. 

January  2d,  1837.  Mr.  GRUNDY  :  Of  one  point  he  was  fully  satisfied;  that  Michigan 
had  a  right  to  be  received  into  the  Union  ;  on  this  he  presumed  there  would  be  but  little 
difference  of  opinion;  the  chief  difference  having  respect  to  the  mode  in  which  it  was  to  be 
done,&c. 

Mr.  CALHOUN:  Some  time  previous  to  the  last  session  of  Congress,  the  Territory  of 
Michigan,  through  its  legislature,  authorized  the  people  to  meet  in  convention  for  the  pur 
pose  of  forming  a  State  government.  They  met  accordingly,  and  agreed  upon  a  consti- 
tion  which  they  forthwith  transmitted  to  Congress  ;  it  was  fully  discussed  in  this  cham 
ber,  and  objectionable  as  the  instrument  was,  an  act  was  finally  passed  which  accepted  the 
Constitution  and  declared  Michigan  to  be  a  State,  and  admitted  into  the  Union  on  the 
single  condition  that  she  should,  by  a  convention  of  the  people,  assent  to  the  boundaries 
prescribed  by  the  act.  Soon  after  the  adjournment  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  Michi- 


17 

gan,  (for  she  had  been  raised  by  our  own  act  to  the  dignity  of  a  State,)  called  a  convention 
of  the  people  of  the  State,  in  conformity  to  the  act,  which  met  at  Ann  Harbor.  After 
full  discussion  the  convention  withheld  its  assent,  and  formally  transmitted  the  result  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States.  This  is  the  first  part  of  the  story.  I  will  now  give 
the  sequel.  Since  then,  during  the  last  month,  a  self-constituted  assembly  met,  professedly 
as  a  convention  of  the  people  of  the  State,  but  without  the  authority  of  the  State.  This 
unauthorized  and  lawless  assemblage  assume  the  high  function  of  giving  the  assent  of  the 
State  of  Michigan  to  the  condition  of  admission  as  prescribed  in  the  act  of  Congress,  &c.  * 

It  will  beasked — what  shall  be  done?  Will  you  refuse  to  admit  Michigan  into  the 
Union?  I  answer  no — I  desire  to  admit  her ;  and  if  the  Senators  from  Indiana  and  Ohio 
will  agree,  /  am  now  ready  to  admit  her,  as  she  stood  at  the  beginning  of  last  session,  without 
giving  sanction  to  the  unauthorized  assemblage  of  December,  &c. 

Mr.  DANA:  A  long  and  severecontest  had  existed  between  Michigan  and  Ohio  in  re 
gard  to  their  boundary  line,  each  claiming  the  sams  territory,  and  each  ready  to  defend  it 
with  their  lives.  Michigan  claimed  admission  into  the  Union,  but  Congress  could  not  ad 
mit  her,  standing  as  she  did  in  a  hostile  attitude  with  one  of  the  States  of  the  Union,  until 
the  existing  question  of  boundary  was  settled.  *#****  A  single 
thought  more  and  I  have  done.  It  is  not  denied  that  Michigan  embraces  a  population 
which  entitles  her  to  a  rank  among  her  sister  States;  that  she  has  formed  a  republican 
constitution,  and  organized  her  government  under  it,  and  that  Congress  have  approved  it. 
She  has  also  given  her  assent  to  the  terms  prescribed,  and  now  presents  herself  for  admis 
sion  into  the  Union,  and  for  her  legitimate  rank  as  an  independent  sovereign  State.  Her 
claim  is  not  without  precedent,  but  has  frequently  been  conceded  to  others.  Now,  let  me 
ask  what  is  the  duty  of  Congress  ?  Have  we  a  right  to  deny  her  this  privilege ;  should  we 
continue  to  debar  her  from  year  to  year  of  rights  and  privileges  to  which  she  is  entitled, 
and  which  she  demands  at  our  hands  ?  Sir,  a  solemn  duty  devolves  upon  us,  and  I  trust  we 
shall  best,  discharge  it  by  immediately  admitting  this  State  into  the  Union. 

Mr.  Walker  concluded  by  observing  that  in  his  opinion  to  delay  longer  the  admission 
of  Michigan  would  be  an  act  of  the  clearest  injustice,  and  a  violation  of  the  spirit  of  the 
Constitution  and  of  the  ordinance  of  1787. 

January  3,  1837.  Mr.  BUCHANAN:  It  has  been  the  practice  heretofore  to  treat  our  in 
fant  Territories  with  paternal  care,  to  nurse  them  with  kindness,  and  when  they  have 
attained  the  age  of  manhood  to  admit  them  into  the  family  without  requiring  of  them  a 
rigid  adherence  to  forms.  The  great  questions  to  be  decided  are,  do  they  contain  a  suffi 
cient  population?  Have  they  adopted  a  republican  Constitution  ?  And  are  they  willing  to 
enter  the  Union  on  the  terms  which,  we  propose?  If  so,  all  the  preliminary  proceedings 
have  been  considered  but  mere  forms,  which  we  have  waived  in  repeated  instances.  They  are 
but  the  scaffolding  of  the  building  which  is  of  no  farther  use  after  the  building,  is  erected. 
We  have  pursued  this  course  in  regard  to  Tennessee,  to  Arkansas,  and  even  to  Michigan. 

On  the  final  passage  of  the  bill  for  the  admission  of  Michigan,  the 
vote  stood  as  follows: 

Yeas — Benton,  Brown,  Buchanan,  Dana,  Fulton,  Grundy,  Hendricks,  Hubbard,  King 
of  Alabama,  King  of  Georgia,  Linn,  Nicholas,  Niles,  Page,  Parker,  Rives,  Robinson, 
Sevier,  Strange,  Tallmadge,  Tipton,  Walker,  Wall,  White,  Wright— 25. 

JVays— Bayard,  Calhoun,  Clay,  Crittenden,  Davis,  Kent,  Moore,  Prentiss,  Southard, 
Swift— 10. 

Messrs.  Calhoun,  Crittenden,  Moore,  and  Southard  voting  nay  because  of  the  preamble; 
Messrs.  Bayard  and  Davis,  because  such  had  been  the  action  of  Congress,  that  the  ques 
tion  should  be  referred  to  the  people  of  Michigan  for  their  acquiescence. 

From  these  debates  I  deduce  as  follows  : 

1.  That  a  people  having  sufficient  population,  properly  presenting 
themselves  to  Congress,  have  the  right  to  be  admitted  as  a  Slate,  and 
the  corresponding  obligation  or  duly  rests  upon  Congress  to  make  effect 
ive  the  right  ;  and  that  to  withhold  it  is  a  violation  of  the  spirit  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  Slates. 

2.  That  there  being  no  law  of  Congress  regulating  the  mode  of  pro 
ceeding  in  the  admission  of  new  States,  it  is  unimportant  if  a  preliminary 
law  of  Congress  authorizing  the  formation  of  a  State  constitution  has  not 
or  has  been  passed . 

3 


18 

3.  That  the  practice  and  object  of  Congress  heretofore  has  been,  as 
soon  as  practicable,  to  admit  new  States,  disregarding  matters  of 'form , 
and  looking  only  at  the  number  of  souls  and  the  constitution  presented, 
in  order  to  determine  its  republican  character. 

4.  That  the  fact  appearing  in  the  constitution  presented,  that  the 
government  draws  all  its  just  powers  from  the  governed,  establishes 
its  republican  character. 

5.  That  this  government  has  no  right  to  interfere  with  the  question 
of  slavery  in  the  States,  or  determine  what  shall  or  shall  not  be  consider 
ed  property,  or  by  what  tenure  property  of  any  kind  shall  be  holden  : 
but  that  all  these  ore  solely  questions  of  State  policy,^  which  Congress 
has  no  right  to  intervene. 

6.  That  Congress  has  not  the  power  to  enter  into  any  compromise, 
bargain,  or  agreement  with  the  people  of  the  States,  in  order  to  procure 
a  change,  amendment,  or  alteration  of  their  constitutions;  nor  has  Con 
gress  the  power  to  make  any  such  requirement ,  or  to  effect  such  change; 
but  that  each  State  has  the  right  to  present  herself  for  admission  in  her 
own  time  and  manner . 

All  these  questions  are  discussed  in  the  debates  from  which  I  have 
quoted;  and  by  the  passage  of  the  bills  of  admission,  Congress  adjudicat 
ed  them.  Notwithstanding  this,  are  we  yet  adrift  ;  and  are  all  these 
questions  to  be  re-determined  ?  Does  adjudication,  after  full  discussion, 
settle  nothing?  And  is  each  question,  whether  adjudicated  or  not,  an 
open  question  ? 

On  this  subject  we  direct  attention  to  the  views  of  Mr.  Senator 
Badger,  whose  "  well  balanced  mind"  has  been  a  subject  of  comment 
in  the  Senate. 

In  the  debate  in  the  Senate ,  April ,  1848 ;  on  the  subject  of  authorizing 
John  Charles  Fremont,  and  others  named,  to  act  as  commissioners  in 
California  for  certain  purposes,  this  distinguished  Senator,  after  com 
menting  on  the  difference  between  "  offices"  and  "  employments," 
spoke  as  follows  : 

"  And  inasmuch  as  the  establishment  of  a  contrary  doctrine  would  involve  great  difficul 
ties  on  the  Government,  I  should  feel  content,  even  if  the  past  history  and  practice  of  the  Gov 
ernment  did  not  furnish  precedents  to  give  to  this  term  the  signification  which  I  have  now 
stated  in  its  connexion  with  the  bill  before  us.  But  this  point  has  been  already  decided ;  and 
sensible,  for  my  part,  of  the  great  importance  of  regarding  the  Constitution  as  the  same  in  all 
times  and  places,  I  believe  that  in  all  cases  in  which  questions  have  been  decided  they  should  be  re 
garded  as  settled  at  once  and  for  ever.  Gentlemen  may  differ,  however,  in  this  view  of  the 
subject,  though  it  seems  to  me  that  in  a  question  of  this  kind  it  is  absolutely  indispensible, 
unless  we  would  fetter  ourselves  at  every  step  of  our  progress,  that  we  should  yield  to 
what  has  been  the  clear  and  undoubted  authority  of  all  the  departments  of  this  Government — 
legislative,  executive,  and  judicial.  Let  me  now  refer  to  a  few  cases,  &c.  [Congress, 
Globe,  1st  session  30th  Congress,  page  628.]" 

This  ought,  I  think,  to  be  conclusive  on  this  point  ;  but  should  it 
not  be,  I  make  no  doubt  that  the  Senator  from  North  Carolina  can  fur 
ther  enforce  and  illustrate  his  position. 

If  the  adherence  to  forms,  not  established  by  precedent,  existing  not 
in  any  constitutional  or  legislative  enactment,  but  solely  in  the  imagina 
tions  of  individuals,  is  obligatory  on  Congress,  how  can  it  be  accounted 


19 

for  that  Tennessee,  Arkansas,  Michigan,  and  California  are  now  States 
of  the  Union,  notwithstanding  no  preliminary  law  of  Congress  was  pas 
sed  authorizing  them  to  form  constitutions  ?  If  it  is  indispensably  ne 
cessary  that,  before  becoming  a  State,  a  community  must  first  pass 
through  the  territorial  form, as  has  been  contended  by  some,  how  is  it 
that  Texas  and  California  are  now  States  of  the  Union  ? 

The  grand  precedent  established  by  Congress  is,  that  as  soon  as  a 
community,  residing  on  land  gathered  under  the  protecting  wings  of 
the  Constitution /has  of  population  a  near  approximation  to  the  ratio  of 
representation,  it  is  matter  of  high  gratification  to  Congress,  matter  of 
obligation  .or  duty  for  Congress,  to  make  effective  the  right  of  represent 
ation  by  admitting  the  community  as  a  State  of  the  Union,  whenever  it 
desires  to  be  so  admitted,  and  presents  a  republican  constitution  ;  and 
that  to  withhold  the  passage  of  a  bill  of  admission,  these  conditions  be 
ing  complied  with,  is  violative  of  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution. 

The  principle  of  non-intervention,  and  others  advanced  in  the  debates 
on  the  admission  of  Arkansas  and  Michigan,  has  since  been  thus  set 
forth  by  Mr.  Calhoun  in  his  celebrated  resolutions  of  1847,  laying  down 
what  has  been  termed  the  southern  platform: 

"That  it  is  n  fundamental  principle  in  our  political  creed  that  a  people,  in  forming  a  con 
stitution,  have  the  unconditional  right  to  form  and  adopt  the  government  which  they  may 
think  best  calculated  to  secure  their  liberty,  prosperity,  and  happiness;  and  that,  in  con 
formity  thereto,  no  other  condition  is  imposed  by  the  Federal  Constitution  on  a  State,  in 
order  to  be  admitted  into  this  Union,  except  that  its  constitution  shall  be  republican;  and 
that  the  imposition  of  any  other  by  Congress  would  not  only  be  in  violation  of  the  Consti 
tution,  but  in  direct  conflict  with  the  principle  on  which  our  political  system  rests." 

In  his  speech  supporting  his  resolutions,  Mr.  Calhoun  used  this  lan 
guage: 

"Sir,  I  hold  it  to  be  a  fundamental  principle  in  our  political  system,  that  the  people  have 
the  right  to  establish  what  government  they  may  think  proper  for  themselves;  that  every 
State,  about  to  become  a  member  of  this  Union,  has  a  right  to  form  its  own  government  as 
it  pleases;  and  in  order  to  be  admitted  there  is  but  one  qualification,  and  that  is,  that  the 
government  shall  be  republican." 

It  has  pleased  New  Mexico  to  engraft  in  her  constitution  an  anti- 
slavery  clause.  Is  it  the  object  of  those  who  oppose  her  admission  flow, 
by  so  doing,  to  effect  a  change  in  her  constitution  in  this  respect?  Is 
this  opposition  intended  uto  procure  a  change,  amendment,  or  altera 
tion"  in  the  constitution  of  New  Mexico?  Such  hope  1  believe  to  be 
vain;  and  could  it  be  effected  would  be  valueless.  In  my  humble  judg 
ment  no  constitutional  provision  will  bring  about  the  introduction  of 
slave  labor  in  New  Mexico,  for  the  simple  reason  that  it  will  not  pay. 

The  principle,  that  while  Congress  should  exercise  no  powers  not 
conferred,  it  is  bound  to  exercise  those  conferred  whenever  such  exercise 
is  necessary  to  give  effect  to  existing  rights;  and  that  of  non-interven 
tion  in  the  local  legislation  of  the  States,  both  affirmed  in  the  resolu- 
sions  Mr.  Calhoun,  were  also  included  in  the  PEACE  MEASURES 
of  the  last  session;  to  sustain  which,  distinguished  men  of  either 
party  or  section,  abandoning  all  other  considerations,  hastened  to  the 
rescue  of  the  Union,  and  standing  together,  shoulder  to  shoulder, 
drove  back  the  threatening  waves,  which  rising  on  the  confines  of  the  Re- 


20 

public,    and    gathering  violence   as   they   approached    the    Capitol, 
threatened  to  engulf  the  Union. 

The  profound  calm  now  pervading  the  public  mind  indicates  the 
acquiescence  of  the  PEOPLE  of  the  United  States  in  the  measures  of 
the  last  session,  and  in  the  principles  involved  in  them. 

Who  will  now  oppose  the  principles  to  which  I  have  alluded?  Will 
the  South,  which  has  heretofore  sustained  them,  in  some  cases,  with 
frantic  vehemence?  Will  the  South,  by  voting  against  the  admission 
of  New  Mexico,  furnish  such  an  illustration  of  human  inconsistency? 
Will  the  South,  by  voting  against  the  admission  of  New  Mexico, 
themselves  repeal  principles  they  have  heretofore  deemed  essential  to 
their  very  safely? 

New  Mexico  seeks  admission  into  the  Union  as  a  whole.  She  comes 
here  appealing  to  no  section.  She  desires  admission  by  a  national  and 
not  a  sectional  vote,  and  she  appeals  to  the  nation. 

New  Mexico  in  time,  and  that  too  a  short  time,  must  be  admitted  as 
a  State.  She  must  be  admitted;  but  God  forbid  that  it  must  be  by  a 
sectional  vote. 

Eloquent  lips  have  declared  that  the  strongest  bonds  of  the  Union  are 
in  the  affections  of  the  people.  To  this  I  cordially  subscribe.  To  pre 
serve  the  affections  of  the  people  there  must  be  maintained  the  princi 
ple  of  non-intervention,  and  all  national  legislation  must  be  with  scrupu 
lous  regard  to  the  rights  of  all.  Every  act  of  unjust  legislation  tends  to 
alienate  the  affections  of  the  people.  Every  withholding  of  constitu 
tional  right  tends  to  alienate  the  affections  of  the  people. 

The  right  of  New  Mexico  to  representation  in  some  mode  was  per 
fect  on  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  with  Mexico,  and  by  the  settlement 
of  the  disputed  boundary  question  with  Texas,  her  right  to  representa 
tion,  as  a  separate  and  independent  people,  became  clear  and  undis 
puted. 

Clear  and  undisputed  as  is  this  "inestimable  right,"  its  exercise  is 
withheld.  It  can  only  be  made  operative  by  the  passage  of  a  bill  ad- 
miying  New  Mexico  as  one  of  the  United  Slates  of  America. 

Application  to  be  admitted  into  the  Union,  in  the  language  of  Mr. 
Morris,  "furnishes  clear  proofs  that  the  Union  is  highly  esteemed  and 
has  its  foundation  deep  in  the  hearts  of  our  fellow  citizens ."  Such  is 
the  attitude  of  New  Mexico. 

The  appeal  of  Mr.  Buchanan  to  Senators,  "ought  they  to  be  offend 
ed  with  the  eagerness  of  new  States  for  admission  into  all  the  rights, 
privileges,  and  benefits  of  the  Union,  at  a  time  too  when  some  of  the  old 
Stales  are  threatening  to  leave  «"/?"  is  not  without  applicability  now, 
when  there  are  misguided  persons  lying  in  wait  for  an  unguarded  mo 
ment  to  sunder  the  bonds  of  the  Union. 

I  have  already  declared,  that  one  of  the  arguments  used  by  the  State 
parly  in  New  Mexico  was,  that  a  territorial  government  could  not  be 
obtained;  and  I  would  be  wanting  in  frankness  did  I  fail  to  mention 
that  this  argument  was  much  insisted  on. 

A  doubt,  therefore,  exists  whether,  now  that  Congress  has  provided 


21 

a  territorial  government,  the  people  of  New  Mexico  still  desire  admis 
sion  as  a  Slate. 

Under  these  circumstances,  and  with  a  view  of  leaving  the  decision 
of  this  question,  where  it  properly  belongs,  with  the  people  of  New 
Mexico,  the  undersigned  respectfully  requests  of  Congress  the  passage 
of  a  bill  admitting  New  Mexico  as  a  State  of  the  Union,  provided  the 
people  of  that  community,  by  a  convention  elected  by  them  for  that 
sole  purpose,  acquiesce  in  the  boundaries  Congress  must  now  neces 
sarily  alter,  and  express  their  desire  now  to  be  admitted  as  a  State. 

This  proposition,  based  upon  the  precedent  established  in  the  case  of 
Michigan,  if  carried  out,  will  clear  up  any  doubts  which  may  still  ex 
ist,  that  the  constitution  now  before  Congress  does  not  express,  in  all 
its  parts,  the  wishes  of  the  people  of  New  Mexico;  it  will  also  be  a  con 
demnation  of  the  new  theories  that  Native  Americans  only  are  entitled 
to  rights  and  privileges,  and  that  the  colonial  system  of  England  can 
legally  be  engrafted  on  our  free  institutions;  it  will  furnish  to  the  peo 
ple  of  New  Mexico  the  evidence  that  Congress  does  not  look  upon  them 
as  aliens,  but  as  citizens  of  the  United  States,  whose  rights  and  privi 
leges  will  be  eliminated  by  the  application  of  the  same  rules  and  prin 
ciples  used  in  determining  the  rights  and  privileges  of  other  communi 
ties  protected  by  the  Constitution;  and  that  their  rights,  being  thus  de 
termined,  will  be  unhesitatingly  acknowledged. 

In  the  determination  of  what  are  the  rights  of  New  Mexico,  as  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  as  a  citizen  of  New  Mexico,  i  depre 
cate  the  application  of  new  and  invidious  rules  unknown  to  the  theory 
of  our  Government.  I  protest  against  it.  I  deprecate  and  protest, 
because  such  a  course  must,  by  its  injustice,  excite  among  the  people 
of  New  Mexico  well-grounded  apprehension  and  distrust. 

Against  the  introduction  into  the  investigation  of  what  are  the  rights 
of  New  Mexico,  of  the  new  theory  of  the  balance  of  power  between  the 
pro-slavery  and  anti-slavery  States,  or  between  the  cis-montane  and 
trans-montane  States,  or  any  other  check  or  balance  unknown  to  the 
Constitution,  and  not  of  republican  origin,  I  most  solemnly  protest. 

By  the  Constitution  and  its  system  of  checks  and  balances,  and  by 
none  other,  should  we  be  tried. 

There  is  a  large  portion  of  patriotic  citizens  of  the  United  States,  who 
are  in  favor  of  the  farther  extension  of  the  limits  of  this  Republic  by 
peaceful  and  legal  means,  looking  upon  our  country  as  the  ark  into 
which  the  wearied  of  despotism  may  securely  take  refuge,  whether  they 
come  as  individual  emigrants  or  independent  nations. 

Is  this  great  object  to  be  advanced,  if  our  first  act  towards  a  commu 
nity  not  native  American  is,  by  the  application  of  new  theories,  to  de 
prive  it  of  rights  and  privileges  heretofore,  under  similar  circumstances, 
invariably  acknowledged ,  where  native  American  communities  were  con 
cerned?  Will  such  a  course,  for  instance,  advance  the  peaceful  acquisi 
tion  of  the  Canadas  or  of  Cuba? 

Proclaiming  that  communities,  not  native  American,  must  not  ex 
pect  to  be  considered  sovereign,  or  to  be  represented  in  the  national  le- 


gislature,  but  that  their  position  will  be  that  of  colonial  dependencies, 
and  the  acknowledgment  of  their  rights  dependent  upon  the  absolute 
pleasure  and  discretion  of  Congress,  unrestrained  by  considerations  of 
justice  or  law — that  in  their  cases,  rights  and  privileges  are  not  inherent 
in  the  people,  but  concessions  or  boons  of  the  government. — How  can 
we  hope  to  advance  the  cause  of  human  liberty? — Or  how  can  we  say 
that  it  is  co-extensive  with  the  area  overshadowed  by  our  own  Consti 
tution? 

To  force  the  blessings  of  liberty  upon  an  unwilling  people  is  almost 
in  terms  an  absurdity.  If  the  area  of  liberty  is  to  be  extended,  it  must 
be  by  presenting  the  spectacle  of  a  just  government  making  effective 
the  rights  of  all,  and  scrupulously  abstaining  from  all  interference  in 
the  local  legislation  of  its  parts. 

As  boldly  and  as  freely  as  the  rightful  claims  of  New  Mexico  have 
been  denounced,  I  denounce  the  withholding  the  acknowledgment  of 
those  claims,  as  a  flagrant,  outrage  on  my  section,  as  an  endorsement  of 
the  principles  of  the  Native  American  party,  as  a  first  step  in  engrafting 
on  our  free  institutions  the  colonial  system  of  England,  and  as  a  sar 
casm  on  the  national  sympathy  for  struggling  Hungary. 

In  presenting  the  claims  of  New  Mexico  to  the  consideration  of  Con 
gress,  it  has  been  my  object  to  present  them  in  a  manner  consistent  with 
the  respect  which  it  must  be  the  earnest  desire  of  every  American  to 
accord  to  that  distinguished  body;  I  trust,  also,  I  have  done  so  with  the 
frankness  becoming  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  the  representa 
tive  of  a  community,  which,  of  right,  ought  to  be,  a  free  and  sovereign 
State. 

R.  H.  WEIGHTMAN, 
Senator  elect,  State  of  New  Mexico. 


APPENDIX. 


A. 

"  The  intense  glorifications  at  St.  Louis,  and  in  every  part  of  the  United  States,  on  the 
recent  successes  of  their  troops  over  the  miserable  Mexicans,  which  were  so  absurd  as 
to  cause  a  broad  grin  on  the  face  of  an  unexcited  neutral,  make  me  recur  to  the  subject  of 
this  war,  which  hitherto  I  have  avoided  mentioning  in  the  body  of  this  little  narrative. 

"It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  trace  the  causes  of  the  war  at  present  raging  between  the 
two  Republics  of  North  America.  The  fable  of  the  wolf  and  the  lamb  drinking  at  the 
same  spring  may  be  quoted,  to  explain  to  the  world  the  reason  why  the  spi-disant  cham 
pion  of  liberty  has  quarrelled  with  its  sister  State  for  'muddying  the  water'  which  the 
model  Republic  uses  to  quench  its  thirst. 

"  A  lesson  has  been  read  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  which  ought  to  open  their 
eyes  to  the  palpable  dishonesty  of  their  Government,  their  unblushing  selfishness,  and  total 
disregard  to  the  interests  of  their  country,  when  those  of  themselves  or  of  their  party  are 
at  stake ;  and  although,  in  the  present  instance,  President  Polk  has  overreached  himself, 
and  raised  a  storm  which  he  would  be  only  too  glad  to  lay  at  any  cost,  yet,  in  the  whole 
history  of  the  Mexican  war,  the  violence  of  party  and  political  feeling  is  evident,  from  the 
9th  oj"  May,  1846,  when  the  first  shot  was  fired  at  Palo  Alto,  to  the  date  of  the  last  half- 
score  despatches  which  inform  the  world  that  General  Scott  '  still  remained  at  Puebla,' 
waiting  re-inforcements. 

"  It  is  enough  to  observe  that  the  immediate  cause  of  hostilities  was  the  unjustifiable  in 
vasion  of  Mexican  territory  by  the  army  of  the  United  States,  to  take  possession  of  a 
tract  of  country  of  which  the  boundary  line  had  been  disputed  between  the  Mexican  Gov 
ernment  and  one  of  its  revolted  States,  and  which  had  been  annexed  to  the  American 
Union  before  its  recognition  as  an  independent  State  by  the  country  from  which  it  had 
seceded. 

"There  can  be  no  question  but  that  the  United  States  had  deep  cause  of  complaint 
against  Mexico,  in  the  total  disregard  evinced  by  the  latter  to  the  spirit  of  international 
treaties,  and  the  injuries  inflicted  upon  the  persons  and  property  of  American  citizens; 
all  redress  of  which  grievances  was  either  totally  refused,  or  procrastinated  until  the  parties 
gave  up  every  hope  of  ultimate  compensation.  The  acquisition  of  Texas,  however,  was 
in  any  case  a  balancing  injustice,  and  should  have  wiped  out  all  old  grievances,  at  least 
those  of  a  pecuniary  nature ;  while,  if  a  proper  spirit  of  conciliation  had  been  evinced  on 
the  part  of  the  Americans,  at  the  period  when  the  question  of  annexation  was  being 
mooted,  all  danger  of  a  rupture  would  have  been  removed  ;  and  Mexico  would  have  yield 
ed  her  claims  to  Texas  with  a  better  grace,  if  taken  as  a  receipt  in  full  for  all  obligations, 
than  in  suffering  a  large  portion  of  her  territory  to  be  torn  from  her,  against  all  laws  held 
sacred  by  civilized  nations. 

"  It  is  certain  that  such  consequences,  as  have  resulted  from  the  advance  of  the  Ameri 
can  troops  from  the  Nueces  to  the  Rio  Grande,  were  never  anticipated  by  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  whose  policy  in  bringing  on  a  quasi  crisis  of  the  State  affairs  on  the 
Mexican  frontier,  and  provoking  the  Mexicans  to  overt  acts  which  could  at  any  moment 
be  converted  into  a  casus  belli,  was  not  for  the  sake  of  territorial  aggrandizement,  but  for 
a  purpose  which,  it  is  known  to  those  in  the  secret  of  his  policy,  had  an  object  more  re 
mote,  and  infinitely  more  important,  than  a  rupture  with  the  Mexican  Government. 

"  At  that  time  the  position  taken  up  by  Mr.  Polk  and  his  party  with  regard  to  the 
Oregon  question  involved,  as  a  natural  consequence,  the  probability  of  a  war  with  England; 
nay,  more,  if  such  position  were  persisted  in,  the  certainty  of  a  war  with  that  power. 
That  a  majority  of  the  people,  and  all  the  right  thinking  and  influential  classes,  were  op 
posed  to  such  measures  as  would  hazard  or  produce  such  a  rupture,  was  so  palpable,  that 
the  Government  was  conscious  that  any  proposal  for  making  preparations  for  a  war  with 
England,  which  they  knew  a  perseverance  in  their  policy  would  assuredly  bring  about, 
would  not  be  favorably  received,  or  even  tolerated,  and  therefore  they  looked  about  them 
for  means  of  attaining  their  object,  by  blinding  the  eyes  of  the  people  as  to  their  ulterior 
designs.  Mexico  was  made  the  scape-goat.  A  war  with  that  weak  and  powerless  State 
would  be  popular,  since  its  duration,  it  was  supposed,  could  be  but  for  a  very  brief  period, 


24 

the  Government  having  no  resources  whatever,  and  being  sadly  deficient  in  any  of  the 
sinews  of  war;  and,  moreover,  such  a  war  would  be  likely  to  flatter  the  national  pride  and 
conceit  of  the  American  people. 

"  To  bring,  therefore,  affairs  to  such  a  critical  position  on  the  Texan  frontier,  that  a 
'  stale  of  war'  could  at  any  moment  be  assumed,  and  its  imminence  be  actually  very  ap 
parent,  was  the  stroke  of  policy  by  which  Polk  and  his  party  hoped  to  blind  the  people, 
and,  profiting  by  it,  make  such  preparations  as  would  enable  them  to  carry  out  their  plans 
in  connexion  with  the  Oregon  question  and  the  probable  war  with  England.  They 
thought  that,  even  if  hostilities  broke  out  with  Mexico,  that  power  would  at  once  suc 
cumb;  and,  in  the  mean  time,  that  the  war  fever  in  the  United  States  would  spread,  and 
that  the  people  would  sanction  an  increase  in  the  army  and  navy  in  such  a  case,  which 
would  at  any  time  be  made  available  for  another  purpose. 

"  The  first  shot  fired  on  the  Rio  Grande  changed  their  views.  Until  then  the  Americans 
were  in  utter  ignorance  of  the  state  of  Mexico  and  the  Mexicans.  They  never  anticipated 
such  resistance  as  they  have  met  with  ;  but,  judging,  from  the  moral  and  physical  infe 
riority  of  the  people,  at  once  concluded  that  all  they  had  to  do  was  venire,  videre,  et  vincere. 
Children  in  the  art  of  war,  they  imagined  that  personal  bravery  and  physical  strength 
were  the  only  requisites  for  a  military  people ;  and  that,  possessing  these  qualities  in  as 
great  a  degree  as  the  Mexicans  were  deficient  in  them,  the  operations  in  Mexico  would 
amount  to  nothing  more  arduous  than  a  promenade  through  the  table  lands  of  Anahuac — 
the  *  Halls  of  Montezuma,'  in  which  it  was  the  popular  belief  that  they  were  destined, 
to  revel,  being  the  goal  of  their  military  paseo  of  six  weeks. 

"  As  soon,  however,  as  the  list  of  killed  and  wounded  on  the  fields  of  Palo  Alto  and 
Resaca  de  la  Palma  reached  Washington,  President  Polk  saw  at  once  the  error  into 
which  he  had  fallen.  It  became  evident  to  him  that  all  the  resources  of  the  country  would 
be  required  to  carry  on  the  war  with  one  of  the  most  feeble  powers  in  the  world,  and 
that  the  sooner  he  pulled  his  foot  out  of  the  hot  water,  which  at  the  temperature  of  54®  40' 
was  likely  to  scald  him,  the  better  for  him  and  his  country ;  for  it  naturally  occurred  to 
him  that,  if  such  a  scrimmage  as  the  Mexican  war  gave  him  considerable  trouble,  an  affair 
with  such  a  respectable  enemy  as  England  was  likely  to  prove  any  thing  but  an  agreeable 
pastime:  and  hence  the  very  speedy  acceptance  of  Lord  Aberdeen's  ultimatum,  and  the 
sudden  settlement  of  the  Oregon  question." 

B. 

By  an  "extract  from  the  records  in  the  State  Department  at  Santa  Fe,"  recorded  page 
61  of  Senate  doc.  No.  23,  of  1st  sess.  of  30th  Cong.,  being  a  "report  of  the  Secretary  of 
War,  communicating  in  answer  to  a  resolution  of  the  Senate,  a  report  and  map  of  the 
examination  of  New  Mexico,  made  by  Lieutenant  J.  W.  Abert,  of  the  Topographical 
Corps,"  it  appears  that  the  population  of  New  Mexico,  "according  to  the  statistics 
presented  for  this  purpose,  is  100,064." 

This  includes  the  Pueblo  Indians,  who  number  all  told,  as  appears  by  records  in  De 
partment  of  Interior,  11,180,  leaving  a  population*e#eJusive  of  Indians,  taxed  and  untaxed, 
88,884. 

The  subjoined  correspondence  will  explain  itself. 

C. 

WASHINGTON,  Jan.  23,  1851. 

SIR:  Enclosed  you  will  find  a  paper  which  1  have  prepared,  urging  upon  Congress  the 
passage  of  a  bill  declaring  New  Mexico  one  of  the  United  States  of  America  on  certain  con 
ditions. 

The  conditions  are,  "provided  that,  by  a  convention  elected  by  the  people  of  New  Mex 
ico  for  that  express  purpose,  they  (the  people)  acquiesced  in  the  boundaries  Congress 
must  now  necessarily  alter,  and  express,  at  the  same  time,  their  desire  to  be  now  admitted 
as  a  State. 

The  boundaries  set  forth  in  the  constitution  of  New  Mexico  include  territory  which 
Congress  has  declared  shall  belong  to  Texas;  in  order,  therefore,  to  avoid  conflict  of  juris 
diction  between  New  Mexico  and  Texas,  it  will  be  necessary  for  Congress  so  to  arrange 
the  boundaries  of  New  Mexico  as  to  effect  this  object;  and  following  the  precedent  estab 
lished  in  the  case  of  Michigan,  it  will  be  regular  to  refer  the  matter,  after  Congress  shall 
have  arranged  the  boundaries,  to  the  people  of  New  Mexico  for  their  acquiescence. 

If,  then,  the  people  of  New  Mexico  acquiesce  in  the  boundaries  Congress  may  pre 
scribe,  and  also,  through  the  same  convention,  express  their  desire  to  be  admitted  as  a  State, 
the  two  conditions  will  be  complied  with,  and,  the  bill  being  passed,  New  Mexico  will  be 
come  a  State  by  the  act  of  her  people. 


25 

If,  however,  they,  (the  people,)  prefer  a  territorial  government,  they  have  only  to  with 
hold  their  acquiescence  in  these  conditions,  and  the  territorial  organization  is  retained. 
This  leaves  the  matter  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  people  of  New  Mexico. 
I  beg  you  to  examine  the  enclosed  paper  to  Congress,  and  should  you  agree  with  me 
in  the  arguments  advanced,  the  statement  of  facts,  and  in  the  object  sought  to  be  obtain 
ed,  I  earnestly  desire  your  concurrence  in  the  proposed  measure. 

Very  respectfully,  your  friend, 

And  obedient  servant, 

R.  H.  WEIGHTMAN. 
Mr.  WM.  S.  MESSERVY, 

Representative  elect,  State  of  JVeto  Mexico. 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  January  25,  1851. 

Sm :  I  have  received  your  letter  dated  Jan.  23,  with  enclosure,  urging  upon  Congress 
action  at  this  time,  in  reference  to  making  New  Mexico  a  State  on  certain  conditions. 

I  have  examined  your  paper  with  care,  and  have  to  say  that  in  the  main  object  which 
you  propose,  to  wit,  reference  of  the  decision  of  the  question  of  State  or  territorial  gov 
ernment  to  the  people  of  New  Mexico,  I  entirely  agree  with  you,  we  only  differ  as  to  the 
mode  in  which  this  should  be  done. 

In  my  opinion,  it  is  more  advisable  that  the  subject  be  referred  to  the  people  of  New 
Mexico,  previous  to  any  action  of  Congress;  as  I  believe  the  "bill  providing  a  territorial 
government  for  the  people  of  New  Mexico,"  is  better  calculated  to  promote  their  welfare 
and  happiness,  and  is  better  suited  to  their  wants  and  condition,  and  would  be  more  ac 
ceptable  than  the  "State  organization"  which  was  entered  into  by  them  when  they  aban 
doned  the  hope  of  obtaining  a  territorial  government. 

The  people  should,  undoubtedly,  be  permitted  to  control  this  whole  matter  for  them 
selves,  and  they  will  equally  have  this  control  in  their  hands  in  the  mode  I  propose  as  in 
yours. 

Your  history  of  the  formation  of  the  State  government  in  New  Mexico  is  correct  in 
all  its  details,  though  falling  short  of  giving  a  just  idea  of  the  gross  outrages  inflicted  upon 
the  people  by  the  authorities  of  that  country;  what  you  have  detailed,  moreover,  is  cor 
rect,  and  perhaps  sufficient  to  illustrate  the  point  in  view. 

The  arguments  used  in  showing  the  right  of  the  people  of  New  Mexico  to  be  admitted 
as  a  State  whenever  they  apply  for  admission,  and  present  a  republican  constitution,  based 
as  they  are  upon  national  as  opposed  to  sectional  grounds,  and  upon  the  opinions  of  distin 
guished  statesmen  from  different  portions  of  our  country,  command  my  entire  concurrence 
and  approbation. 

1  have  the  honor  to  be, 

Most  respectfully,  yours, 

WILLIAM  S.  MESSERVY. 

Hon.  RICHARD  H.  WEIGHTMAN. 


